Cover Genius, the leading insurtech for embedded protection, today announced it is partnering with HomeToGo, the marketplace with the world’s largest selection of vacation rentals, to simplify the short-term rental experience with comprehensive embedded protection.
† Cost savings are based on a comparison of all Cover Genius shipping protection versus published carrier rates for Fedex, UPS, DHL, USPS, UPS, Old Dominion, DHL, XPO Logistics, Estes Express Lines, YRC and TForce Freight as at June 27, 2022. Time savings are based on average resolution times (i.e. the duration from initial filing to completed payment) for all XCover shipping protection claims as at May 31, 2022 (sample size = 868) compared with the industry average time including payment settlement (min. 6 days) and period to acknowledge a filed claim.
Cover Genius is a licensed insurance provider in many international jurisdictions.
As Chief Financial Officer of Cover Genius, Rinky oversees global finance, accounting, and financial strategy, supporting the company’s continued growth and global scale.
Rinky brings over two decades of experience in the finance leadership roles across both public companies and high-growth startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has successfully guided multiple organizations through strategic exits, including acquisitions and IPOs in the U.S. market.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Applications from Delhi University and holds a CPA license (inactive) in California. Rinky also completed the residential CFO program at Stanford University. Based in the Bay Area, she is an active advisor to early-stage startups and a passionate advocate for innovation in finance and technology.
Ryan is the Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at Cover Genius, where he leads global strategy, M&A, planning, and operations.
He brings extensive experience scaling fintechs and marketplaces across Asia, Europe, and North America, with previous leadership roles at Alibaba and Rocket Internet, as well as global strategy consultancies.
Ryan holds degrees in law and finance and has actively advised numerous scale-ups on growth and financing strategy.
Ella is the Senior Director of Insurance Structures at Cover Genius, driving the strategic design and implementation of compliant, commercially competitive insurance and non-insurance structures across all operating markets.
Ella brings over a decade of experience across insurtech and health insurance. Prior to her current role, she held senior positions across the ANZ and EMEA regions at Cover Genius, leading insurance product and partnerships and launching new capacity models. Before that, she held strategic product and growth roles at the health insurer Bupa and began her career at a commercial law firm.
Ella holds a J.D. from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.
Girish Lamichhane is the Vice President of Engineering at Cover Genius. Girish Lamichhane is a strategic engineering leader and founding engineer with a proven track record of scaling operations. He’s adept at building foundational systems for early-stage startups and guiding growth-stage companies through expansion.
Combining hands-on technical expertise with a keen product sensibility, Girish excels at empowering high-performing teams to deliver solutions to achieve key business outcomes.
Prior to Cover Genius, Girish was a software engineer on the Android team at LG Electronics. He also holds a Master of IT from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Artem Kolesnikov is the Vice President of Software Engineering, leading the global engineering teams responsible for building and scaling Cover Genius’ core technology platforms.
With a career defined by technical leadership and product innovation, he drives the development of robust, high-performance systems that power seamless embedded protection solutions for partners worldwide. Artem has been a key leader in Cover Genius’ growth, progressing from Lead Developer to his current role as VP of Software Engineering.
Before joining the company, he built a strong foundation in full-stack software development and team leadership across different sectors. Artem holds a B.Eng degree from the National Aerospace University of Ukraine.
Russell is the Vice President of Insurance and Asservo at Cover Genius. In this role, he leads the strategy for embedded protection across EMEA and oversees the company’s global captive insurance entity. With 22 years of experience spanning financial services and technology, Russell is a visionary leader. He’s known for transforming traditional insurance models and driving significant growth across global markets.
A highlight of Russell’s career was his tenure as Director of Insurance at Uber. There, he built and scaled insurance operations across 42 countries, launching groundbreaking protection for millions through innovative, usage-based, and API-driven solutions.
His expertise also includes leadership roles at Zurich, Allianz, Europ Assistance, and Onsi. At Onsi, he established European operations and redefined propositions for the modern, flexible workforce. At Zurich and Allianz, he led major underwriting transformations and managed the P&L for non-life insurance portfolios exceeding $500M.
Russell is a leading voice in insurance innovation, strategic execution, and product management, consistently delivering value in complex, rapidly evolving environments.
Richard Hankin is the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Digital Commerce for North America at Cover Genius. In his role, he is responsible for driving the strategic expansion and growth of embedded protection in the digital commerce sector.
Richard rejoined Cover Genius in 2025, having originally played a key role in launching the Digital Commerce domain in 2019. With extensive experience in the marketplace, e-commerce, and fintech industries, Richard previously held senior leadership positions at eBay and Marketplacer, cultivating high-impact partnerships with some of the world’s leading companies.
Richard holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle (Australia). He is passionate about sport and the outdoors, having played Rugby and competed at Track at a high level in Australia.
Peter Smith is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Travel at Cover Genius. Since joining Cover Genius, he’s been instrumental in shaping the go-to-market strategy for the travel vertical. Now, he also spearheads the company’s commercial expansion across EMEA, collaborating closely with leading global airlines, OTAs, and travel platform partners to integrate seamless embedded protection solutions that elevate the customer experience
With over two decades of expertise spanning the travel, technology, and insurance sectors, Peter leads cross-functional teams across business development, strategic partnerships, and commercial operations. Recognized as a prominent thought leader in embedded insurance and digital transformation within the travel industry, Peter is a frequent speaker and contributor, with his insights regularly featured at major conferences and industry publications.
Beyond his professional achievements, Peter is an avid traveler, passionate about exploring new destinations and cultures while keenly observing the evolving needs of today’s travelers.
Luiza Gusmão is the Vice President of Customer at Cover Genius, leading a global team spanning operations, product, service engineering, and insights.
Her impressive trajectory from intern to Vice President highlights her instrumental role scaling Cover Genius from a startup into a robust enterprise. She’s been a driving force behind growth and innovation within complex regulatory environments, thriving at the intersection of strategy and execution. Luiza has spearheaded transformation efforts across nearly every facet of the customer journey—from redesigning the claims experience and embedding AI into core workflows to translating operational data into commercial insights.
Originally from Brazil, Luiza has lived and worked across four continents. She holds a degree in Industrial Engineering, completing a dual program at the University of Sydney, and now resides in San Francisco.
Ehsan Aziz is the Vice President of Product at Cover Genius, responsible for leading global digital commerce product teams and delivering innovative protection solutions that are reshaping the insurtech industry.
He’s passionate about untangling complex problems, a skill he honed while working across diverse sectors, including two-sided marketplaces, fintech, and his impactful work on Amazon Prime.
Since 2019, Ehsan has driven significant product growth and innovation at Cover Genius, fueled by his unique problem-solving perspective.
He holds a Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of New South Wales.
Lexie Marchuk is the Vice President of Legal and Company Secretary at Cover Genius. In her role, she oversees corporate governance, contracts, litigation, and intellectual property matters across the global organization.
Before joining Cover Genius, Lexie’s legal career spanned both insurtech and insurance companies, giving her a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s legal landscape.
Lexie holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and a B.A., with highest honors, from Lehigh University.
Joe Keogh is the Senior Vice President of Product Operations at Cover Genius. In his role, he is instrumental in productizing manual operational processes to accelerate product growth and streamline delivery across many parts of the business. He also leads the strategic operationalization of large-scale product initiatives, designing and implementing internal tooling that automates workflows to reduce integration costs.
Joe ensures data-driven product decisions by overseeing data operations and integrations, and he is critical in managing partner-led internal integration delivery, ensuring seamless product launches. His leadership aligns product strategy with operational efficiency, allowing the product team to focus on innovation and growth.
David Barbalatt is the Vice President of Travel for the Americas at Cover Genius. He leads the company’s travel business in the region, focusing on developing strategic partnerships and leveraging Cover Genius’s deep technology expertise to build scalable solutions for diverse travel businesses.
Before joining Cover Genius, David spent over 10 years in financial services, data science consulting, and fintech product roles across the APAC region.
He holds a B.A. in Economics and Finance and a Master’s of Business Economics from Monash University, Australia..
Danny Poole is Vice President of Digital Commerce (EMEA) at Cover Genius, where he leads regional growth across commerce, banking and payments, and platform partnerships. Since joining Cover Genius in 2019, Daniel has built and delivered embedded insurance offerings across multiple industries globally, including travel, retail, ticketing, and financial services.
Danny has played a key role in shaping the company’s go-to-market approach and delivering complex partnerships with global leaders such as Revolut. He works cross-functionally to align product, engineering, insurance, and commercial teams around high-impact opportunities.
He holds a degree in Psychology and an MBA, and brings a blend of commercial and strategic experience from previous roles at Amazon and other high-growth digital businesses.
Daniel Chavenson is the Vice President of Insurance and Digital Commerce at Cover Genius, where he leads the company’s North American insurance strategy, product development, and carrier partnerships. With a career that bridges traditional insurance expertise and the fast-evolving insurtech sector, Daniel focuses on building innovative, technology-driven insurance solutions that power digital commerce and deliver seamless customer experiences.
Before joining Cover Genius, Daniel held leadership roles in insurtech and commercial insurance, helping to launch and scale digital insurance products and operational capabilities. Earlier in his career, he worked in underwriting and strategy roles at major global insurers, developing deep technical knowledge across various insurance product lines.
Daniel holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University.
Ann Watson is the Senior Vice President of People at Cover Genius. She is responsible for Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, and Workplace Operations. In her role, she oversees the team’s relentless pursuit of the highest quality talent, building resilient, high-performing teams, and creating engaging and collaborative spaces where this team can “create magic” together.
Prior to joining Cover Genius, she served as the top HR leader in multiple startups, including Varana Health, Varo Bank, MasterClass, and Fandom, having spent her entire career working with Silicon Valley startups. She is also a coach, facilitator, and speaker, and holds a deep passion for helping HR technology startups thrive as one of the founding members of PeopleTech Partners.
She holds a degree from Santa Clara University and completed her coaching certification through the UC Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute. Occasionally, she is prone to participating in ultra-marathons and triathlons.
In his role, Kyle oversees P&L, business operations and strategic planning across Cover Genius’ North American and Latin American regions.
Prior to Cover Genius, Kyle spent more than a decade in numerous leadership positions at Google working with clients to drive sales, improve their brand and maximize product launches. Before that, Kyle was a Director of Business Transformation at IBM, and started his career serving technology and telecom clients at McKinsey & Co. and JP Morgan.
Kyle earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College, studied at the London School of Economics, earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, and received an MBA from Dartmouth College where he earned the Walter Jacobs award for intellectual curiosity and conduct that inspires others. He plays an active role educating and mentoring the next generation of MBA students as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and serves on the board of the Chautauqua Athenaeum Hotel.
In his role, Barney is responsible for overseeing business operations, profit and revenue and strategic planning for Cover Genius in the European, Middle Eastern, African (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions.
Prior to Cover Genius, Barney spent more than 15 years with Google where he held a number of senior leadership positions and was responsible for product to go markets, sales and partnerships for Google’s Media and Marketing Technology business in New York, Sydney and Mountain View, CA.
Barney holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Sydney. Based in Sydney, he is an active advisor and mentor in the APAC technology, media and start-up community.
In his role, Peter leads the product and engineering teams to define and execute the company’s technology strategy and roadmap for all Cover Genius’ platforms, including XCover, the insurtech’s award-winning insurance distribution platform.
As CTO, Peter focuses on the delivery of innovative products and the continued adoption of open source and cloud-based technologies. He is responsible for and oversees the design and implementation of our global scale real-time platforms with a focus on performance, reliability and security.
Prior to Cover Genius, Peter was VP of Engineering at Freelancer.com, where he expanded and led the global engineering team to more than 150 employees across Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Philippines and Argentina. During his tenure, his leadership ensured core platforms scaled to support 30 million users and $740 million in gross payment volume.
Peter holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Spatial Data Mining) from James Cook University and has lectured at the University of Sydney about topics including software engineering, scalable infrastructure and agile development practices. Based in Sydney, he is also a supporter of local organizations that help provide healthcare to rural and remote areas of Australia.
In his role, David manages all financial activities of the company, including business planning, budgeting, forecasting, financial operations, facilities management, and investor relations.
Prior to Cover Genius, David served as CFO at Unite Us and as CFO at nCino, which he took public in 2020 on Nasdaq. He led both companies through various stages of growth and successfully steered them towards becoming profitable growth companies. He also served as the SVP of Finance at Central Square Technologies and has held several roles at software/technology investment and banking firms, including Thrivent Asset Management, JPMorgan, KPMG and PWC.
David earned his B.S.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Illinois Chicago, received his MBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and is a licensed CPA.
In her role, Darcy is responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing risk, legal and compliance strategies across the organization.
Darcy has more than 15 years of experience in commercial and general insurance. Before Cover Genius, she was Product Director at The Hartford, where she managed Cyber, Tech, Media and Miscellaneous Professional Liability products, as well as developed The Hartford’s first admitted Cyber policy. In addition, she has held key roles at AIG and Liberty Mutual, including claims counsel and litigation management.
Darcy has an honors degree in English and Computer Applications from the University of Notre Dame, and a law degree from Fordham University School of Law. Based in New York, Darcy is also a strong supporter of local charities, like City Harvest and FACES, that help individuals improve their day-to-day lives.
With more than a decade of experience in a variety of executive roles at high-growth technology companies, Angus is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Cover Genius overseeing the global expansion and development of Cover Genius across industries.
Before Cover Genius, Angus was the VP of International Business Development at iClick Interactive, and Head of Publisher Partnerships at Yahoo!.
Angus has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Technology Sydney and is a passionate contributor to rural and youth wellbeing programs through personal efforts and those of CG Gives, the philanthropic arm of Cover Genius.
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