# Rishi Sharma

> Rishi Sharma runs Briza, a Toronto-based commercial insurance API platform that connects carriers, MGAs, brokers and software companies through a single interface. He joined in 2018 as CTO/head of product after a stint leading engineering on the FreshBooks redesign, and stepped up to CEO in December 2022 after co-founder Ben Munro departed. His work focuses on API reliability, quote-and-bind automation, and making legacy commercial lines behave like modern developer infrastructure.

- **Role:** CEO at Briza
- **Organizations:** Briza, FreshBooks, FlashStock
- **Known for:** Led product and engineering during Briza's Seed and Series A rounds totaling ~$11.7M., Helped launch the FreshBooks product redesign used by tens of millions of small businesses., Guided Briza's multi-carrier commercial insurance API to production reliability across BOP, GL, WC, and Cyber lines.

## Career timeline

- **2005-2014** — Software developer across financial services and marketplaces, including FlashStock, a community-sourced content network for Fortune 500 brands.
- **2014-2018** — Software engineering leader at FreshBooks; helped design and launch the FreshBooks redesign used by millions of small businesses.
- **2018** — Joined Briza as head of product / CTO.
- **2020-02** — Briza announces $3M CAD seed round.
- **2020-10** — Briza raises $10.2M CAD Series A led by Battery Ventures.
- **2022-12** — Named CEO of Briza after co-founder Ben Munro's departure; oversees a reduction in workforce.

## Achievements

- Led product and engineering during Briza's Seed and Series A rounds totaling ~$11.7M.
- Helped launch the FreshBooks product redesign used by tens of millions of small businesses.
- Guided Briza's multi-carrier commercial insurance API to production reliability across BOP, GL, WC, and Cyber lines.
- Achieved SOC 2 Type II posture and standardized on AWS Fargate, Node.js, TypeScript infrastructure.

## Latest updates

- **2022-12** — Assumed CEO role at Briza; announced a workforce reduction of roughly 26 employees.
- **2020-10** — Announced Briza's $10.2M CAD Series A to expand its commercial insurance API network.

## Links

- Website: https://briza.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishi-o/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brizainc
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/brizainc/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rishi-sharma
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-08