CEO Gabriel Antonelli built Beneflow to eliminate the repetitive Excel-based renewal cycle that group insurance advisors have relied on for years
Benefits advisors have typically faced a long renewal process, particularly when it comes to group insurance. Every year, the same cycle repeats: pull last year's Excel template, manually enter new rates, cross-check carrier documents, and hope the numbers are right before producing a client-ready report.
But Gabriel Antonelli, CEO and co-founder of Calgary-based Beneflow, has built a platform to break that cycle.
How Beneflow automates renewal workflow
Beneflow launched over a year ago and focuses on helping group insurance advisors and managing general agencies (MGAs) manage their full block of business. According to Antonelli, the platform standardizes carrier documents and automates not only reporting but “also workflows in terms of the renewals experience that are really based on the industry standards," he said.
“Before the brokers, MGAs were pretty much working with CRMs and had to produce the files manually, just taking the last year's template from their Excel, filling it out, then exporting it, making sure the data is accurate," he said, emphasizing that typically meant typing in every figure by hand and verifying each client detail before a report could be exported.
Beneflow replaces that process with an automated pipeline. An advisor adds a group with its coverage, assigns it to the correct carrier, and the platform routes the case to the appropriate workflow - whether fully insured, administrative services only (ASO), budgeted ASO, or refund. Carrier documents are uploaded, processed, and validated at the same time, with discrepancies flagged automatically. Once negotiation results are entered, the system produces a branded report at the click of a button.
"Some of our advisors are using the export to Excel for their underwriting so we can fill out their underwriting templates so that they can start negotiating with the data coming from the renewal," he said, adding that the platform also populates custom Excel templates for advisors who prefer that format. "I like to call it like a renewal intelligent platform.”
While processing varies, Antonelli said most renewals run through the system in seconds, with more complex cases taking up to about 90 seconds. After processing, the advisor spends roughly 10 minutes validating rates, demographics, and experience data.
Once a renewal report is produced and sent to the client or passed along to brokers, the system updates the policy for the following year automatically, noted Antonelli.
"You simply click a button, and it does a full renewal update with the new rates, new target loss ratios (TLRs), and the new renewal condition," he explained.
The same logic also applies to marketing processes, whether it’s tied to a prospect or an existing renewal, the platform links the outcome to a policy update once the advisor selects the chosen carrier and its conditions, carrying the case through the full policy lifecycle.
AI built into Beneflow
The company has also built AI functionality into its processing. According to Antonelli, the platform deploys it in two functional areas: a support chatbot that provides live guidance on how features work and what users should do at each stage, and on the processing side, where AI handles optical character recognition (OCR) for scanned PDFs and assists with tasks like summarizing plan designs and booklet content.
He said both applications have delivered strong results since launch.
Renewal-first platform
Antonelli said that adoption depends on advisors recognizing the need but also emphasized the platform's Canadian roots and industry-specific design set it apart. He said the system is built around validation checks embedded in each workflow, which he said reduces errors while accelerating the overall process.
Renewals, in his view, remain the central problem the platform was designed to solve.
"The renewal part is really one of the main pain points that we're capable of fixing is really how we process the renewal and gather all the data," he said.
Why advisors appreciate Beneflow’s structure
According to Antonelli, the platform hasn’t lost a single client since launch, which he credited to the hands-on support structure.
"I think they appreciate having a full dev team supporting them on a daily basis," he said, underscoring that model resonates most with independent advisors who cannot justify the cost of hiring full-time technology staff to build and maintain systems internally.
For Antonelli, who pivoted from actuarial work three and a half years ago to build the platform, the advisor feedback has confirmed the direction was the right one.
"For independent advisors that don't want to spend so much money on the technology side hiring somebody full-time to build the technology and also manage it internally, having that kind of support is really meaningful for them," he said. “I like who we help and how we’re helping them right now.”
