Gangkhar Selected for Cohort 5 of NJ FAST Powered by Plug and Play

One of 13 startups chosen from more than 500 applicants for the three-month fintech and insurtech accelerator at Stevens Institute of Technology

HOBOKEN, NJ, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Gangkhar, the operating system for modern protection, has been selected for Cohort 5 of NJ FAST powered by Plug and Play, the New Jersey Fintech Accelerator at Stevens Institute of Technology. Gangkhar is one of 13 companies chosen from more than 500 applicants, and joins a three-month program alongside startups applying AI across insurance, banking, data and financial operations.

Selection followed the program's fifth Selection Day at Stevens Institute of Technology, where 16 shortlisted startups pitched their solutions to leaders from financial services, technology and innovation. Federico Spagnoli, Founder and CEO, presented Gangkhar's work on embedded protection and Agentic Process Outsourcing.

What NJ FAST is

NJ FAST launched in 2024 as one of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's (NJEDA) Strategic Innovation Centers, a state initiative that backs startups building technologies that create jobs and long-term economic growth in New Jersey. The accelerator is run by Plug and Play, the Silicon Valley-based innovation platform, with Stevens Institute of Technology as founding academic partner and Prudential Financial as founding corporate partner. The NJEDA has committed up to US$17.5 million to the initiative (NJEDA, May 2024).

NJ FAST selects two cohorts a year, aligned with the fall and spring semesters, from companies working in financial and insurance technology. Over three months, each cohort works with mentors and industry experts and is introduced to Plug and Play's network of corporate, investor, government and university partners. Cohort 5 is supported by the NJEDA, Prudential Financial, MetLife, Stevens Institute of Technology, Sequel Advisors and Plug and Play. The program's third cohort, which graduated in December 2025, comprised 13 startups that had raised a combined US$80 million (NJBIZ, December 2025).

What Gangkhar brings to the cohort

Insurance is one of the few industries where serving a larger book still costs proportionally more. Growth in premium has meant growth in headcount, and decades of digitization have not broken that link: the average property and casualty expense ratio, which includes commissions and acquisition costs, has held between 27% and 32% since 2005, according to McKinsey research published in July 2026.

Gangkhar's platform works alongside the systems a carrier already runs, without replacing the policy administration or billing core. Sherpa+ configures the product itself: coverages, business rules, distribution logic, payment rails and settlement. Sherpa+Mesh then runs the operational workload as a governed fleet of AI agents across quoting, issuance, servicing, renewals and claims, an approach the company calls Agentic Process Outsourcing. Each agent checks its actions against the live product rules, under a full audit trail, with human escalation where the work calls for judgment. Sherpa+Lens keeps product parameters, pricing and sales motions under continuous optimization. Across its active programs, Gangkhar reports products reaching market up to 90% faster, operating costs up to 50% lower and conversion 30% or more above the prior baseline (Gangkhar, 2026).

For Gangkhar, the program opens a direct line to insurers, financial institutions and investors in the US Northeast as the company brings Agentic Process Outsourcing to North American carriers, MGAs and brokers.

"Being chosen from more than 500 applicants is a strong signal for what we are building. Our mission is to help close the protection gap by making insurance easier to embed, distribute, access and service, and Agentic Process Outsourcing sits at the center of that: governed AI agents that improve insurance operations while keeping human oversight where it matters," said Federico Spagnoli, Founder and CEO of Gangkhar. "We are looking forward to the next three months with NJ FAST, building relationships and learning from an ecosystem that knows financial services from the inside. Our thanks to NJ FAST, Plug and Play and all the program partners for the opportunity."

Meet Gangkhar during the program

Insurers, MGAs and brokers connected to the NJ FAST ecosystem can begin with an Operations Discovery: a scoped session that maps their highest-volume, highest-touch workflows and identifies where agentic execution would take cost out first. To arrange one, contact the Gangkhar team at paul.oudenhoven@gangkhar.com.

About Gangkhar

Gangkhar is the operating system for modern protection: an AI-native platform that lets carriers, MGAs, brokers and digital platforms configure insurance products, run the operations behind them and optimize them continuously, without replacing the core systems they already have. Embedded protection, coverage placed inside a partner's own customer journey, is one of the capabilities it supports.

The company reports US$85 million in secured gross written premium, more than 20 active programs and more than 10 capacity partners across four regions. Sherpa+ has completed a SOC 2 Type II audit with an unqualified opinion and no testing exceptions.

Climb Higher. Protect Smarter. Learn more at www.gangkhar.com

About NJ FAST powered by Plug and Play

NJ FAST is the New Jersey Fintech Accelerator at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. A collaboration between the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Plug and Play, with Stevens Institute of Technology as founding academic partner and Prudential Financial as founding corporate partner, it runs two cohorts a year for startups in financial and insurance technology. Learn more at www.stevens.edu/nj-fast

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is a Silicon Valley-based innovation platform that connects startups with corporations, investors, universities and governments around the world. It has helped launch companies including PayPal, Dropbox and LendingClub.

Paul Oudenhoven
Gangkhar Inc
+34 681 05 58 30
paul.oudenhoven@gangkhar.com
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