There has been a lot of activity in the Massachusetts insurtech community this weekwith two Massachusetts-based insurtechs announcing major investments after recent funding rounds.
Bindable announces investment round led by EPIC, Motive Partners and Wafra
The first is Bindable, launched in April of this year, by the founders of MassDrive, LLC. The insurance technology company whose goal is to transform the affinity distribution of insurance announced a major investment round led by EPIC Holdings, the corporate parent overseeing investments across the entire EPIC platform, including EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants. In addition to EPIC Holdings, Wafra advised fund, in conjunction with Motive Partners, a global private equity firm focused on investing in financial technology companies also participated in the funding round.
In addition to investing in Bindable, EPIC also has entered into a commercial agreement with the insurtech where Bindable will provide a turnkey software solution to EPIC and its program and affinity business.
“We’ve built our platform to transform the distribution of insurance through sponsored channels and we’re pleased to partner with EPIC, Motive Partners and Wafra to not only support our vision but also provide the strategic capacity to help us drive that change, said Bill Suneson, Co-founder and CEO of Bindable. “We seek to enable the insurance industry to better serve customers through preferred channels and this new capital will help us realize our vision.”
“Our investment in Bindable reflects EPIC’s continued interest in investing and partnering with technology-based solutions and platforms that help us transact our business more efficiently and effectively with our clients.” added John Hahn, CEO of EPIC Holdings.
Scott Kauffman, Partner at Motive Partners, commented: “We believe Bindable has created a platform that is well positioned for rapid growth, as insurance carriers and brokerages increasingly rely on digital and tech-enabled distribution solutions. I look forward to working with Bill Suneson and John Hahn to help Bindable achieve our shared vision.”
Bindable will use the investment to further develop and deepen its insurance platform and offerings.
Boston-based Corvus Raises $10 Million Series A led by .406 Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Hudson
In addition to the announcement Boston-based InsurTech company, Corvus, announced a $10 million Series A investment led by .406 Ventures and Hudson Structured, along with expanded funding from previous investor, Bain Capital Ventures. Corvus partners with major insurers and acts as a Managing General Agency (MGA) to create broker-distributed, tech-enabled commercial insurance products that use novel data sets to predict and prevent commercial insurance claims. Corvus has already launched two Smart Commercial Insurance™ products: Smart Cyber Insurance™ and Smart Cargo Insurance™. Corvus plans to use the new capital to expand into additional commercial lines of insurance. In connection with the financing, Graham Brooks, Partner of .406 Ventures, will be joining Corvus’ Board.
Corvus’ goal is to accelerate the pace of innovation and increase transparency in the insurance industry. Corvus delivers a clear digital experience and insurance products featuring smarter coverage, lower premiums and software-driven loss prevention tools. Their proprietary, digital platform, the CrowBar™, applies customer specific data to create Corvus Scores that inform underwriting decisions and pricing. This same data is also converted into free data analytics and business intelligence for commercial insurance brokers and their policyholders.
Founder and CEO Phil Edmundson, who previously built a top-50 tech-focused commercial insurance brokerage and sold it to Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE:AJG) in 2015, stated: “Commercial insurance brokers and their clients deserve more from their insurers. Built by brokers, Corvus delivers more informed underwriting, more data analytics on each account, and more business intelligence that helps brokers and policyholders to manage risk effectively. Founded by a group equally weighted in technology and insurance, Corvus puts new data to work for everyone in the value chain of commercial insurance.”
Corvus is developing additional commercial insurance products leveraging data from a variety of sources including private sources, government sources, mobile phones, cyber security scans, social media, Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors and satellite imagery. Corvus has now raised $14 million in two rounds of funding.
Liam Donohue, Co-Founding Partner of .406 Ventures, said: “We are very excited to partner with Corvus as they have demonstrated the ability to build a world-class team and to attract over 100 clients early in their launch of Smart Commercial™ Insurance products.” Edmundson added: “Our new investors bring us greater depth in leveraging new data sets and driving more value from them for our brokers and policyholders.”
