Openly's mission is to empower independent insurance agents to deliver a modern, efficient, and superior customer experience. Founders Ty Harris and Matt Wielbut responded to a perceived gap in the market: while consumers are increasingly buying home insurance through independent agents, the products those agents can offer have not kept up with what's possible-resulting in wasted time, wasted money, and outdated risk underwriting.
The strategy has paid off. Having launched two and a half years ago, Openly currently offers its upscale homeowners products in 19 well-diversified states through a rapidly expanding network of over 17,000 independent insurance agents. Openly has grown in-force premium more than 500% year over year and has already achieved double digit new sales market share in the majority of its live states-often beating out the top 100+ year-old incumbents.
And thanks to outstanding agent and customer net promoter scores, Openly enjoys annual policy retention well over 90%, placing the company on a trajectory to achieve its long-term goal of being the top provider of personal insurance through independent agents.
Openly will invest its Series C proceeds to expand its home insurance product to more states and agencies, and to continue enhancing its leading technology and insurance product offering. Openly's technology is powered by an algorithmic advantage, allowing its rating models to look at more data with more granularity and provide more accurate coverage options. Instead of using legacy software, Openly built its technology from the ground up, allowing for updates and fixes to be implemented quickly based on agent feedback.
"We are excited about this funding round and what it will enable," said Ty Harris, Co-founder and CEO of Openly. "Investors in our sector have become wise to some of the sector's potential pitfalls, such as inefficient customer acquisition, high burn rates, and unsustainable underwriting. We built Openly from day one around a strategy that avoids those pitfalls, and we're seeing that pay off in differentiated results. I believe that differentiation relative to competitors will become even more apparent over the next two years."
Courtney Robinson, Founding Partner at Advance Venture Partners, said "We are excited about our continued partnership with Openly. AVP's participation in this round underscores our confidence in Openly's team and their approach to modernizing the property and casualty insurance market with technology-driven underwriting and best-in-class service."
Openly's Series C round also includes investment from select insurance agency partners, which is a testament to the company's deep relationships within the independent insurance agent market. Bradley Flowers, Founder of Portal Insurance, said. "Openly continues to be a game changer for independent agents with its innovative technology, flexible coverage options, and exceptional service."