“There is an ongoing need for technology solutions specific to agents and brokers, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of this cutting-edge initiative,” said Dan Keough, Holmes Murphy chairman and CEO. “BrokerTech Ventures will alleviate some of these pain points by creating an ‘innovation hub’ for startups to test broker-centric ideas and products, while bringing new and innovative ideas and solutions to our customers.”
BrokerTech Ventures will deploy a highly intentional accelerator curriculum, as well as a veteran mentoring network, seed funding for a portion of the chosen startups’ research and testing, and a distribution platform to deploy the technologies. The window for startup companies to apply for a spot in the first BrokerTech Ventures cohort will open in late October of this year, with program launch planned for February 2020.
“The idea behind the alignment of BrokerTech Ventures as both an accelerator and an investment vehicle is that we, and our agency partners, have an opportunity to shape a product or solution alongside the startup,” said Mike Victorson, M3 Insurance president and CEO and BrokerTech Ventures co-founder alongside Holmes Murphy. “We intend on being active participants in the insurance technology space and offering a testing ground to benefit our customers.”
In further building the resources available through BrokerTech Ventures, the owner agencies plan to partner with additional privately held, like-minded, and geographically diverse insurance agencies and brokerages. A targeted, executive search is in progress for the organization’s first managing director, and Brian Hemesath, former managing director of the Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA) and a noted InsurTech leader, will provide guidance and counseling on the initiative as the architecture and curriculum for BrokerTech Ventures are built.
About Holmes Murphy
At Holmes Murphy, we pride ourselves on selling “thinking,” not insurance. In a nutshell, we sell the cumulative knowledge and experience that make insurance and businesses work better. As an independent brokerage, we serve business and industry leaders across the nation in the areas of property casualty insurance, employee benefits, captive insurance, risk management, and loss control.
About BrokerTech Ventures
Based in the insurance nucleus of Des Moines, Iowa, BrokerTech Ventures is the first broker-led investor group and accelerator program focused on delivering innovation to the insurance agent-broker industry. Founded in 2019, BrokerTech Ventures provides a venue for the best minds in insurance and technology to collaborate and bring to market leading-edge ideas and solutions. BrokerTech Ventures invests in the research and testing for each of the chosen startups, provides access to veteran industry mentors, and helps scale the technology to market through broker distribution channels.