TrustLayer, the collaborative risk management platform has completed a $6.6 million seed round of financing. Abstract Ventures led the round with participation from Propel Venture Partners, NFP Ventures, BoxGroup, and Precursor Ventures. The round was heavily oversubscribed, a reflection of the strength of TrustLayer's current compliance software and its success in developing a digital proof of insurance solution.
Twenty of the top 100 insurance agencies in the U.S. as well as their C-suite executives participated in the round. Some of these participating agencies include Holmes Murphy, Heffernan, M3, NFP and Graham Company.
BrokerTech Ventures (BTV), a group made up of 13 of the most innovative insurance agencies in the U.S. and 11 top-tier insurance companies, is also participating in the seed round. This represents BTV's first investment in a cohort member of their accelerator. "We continue to be impressed and encouraged by the momentum and industry adoption of the TrustLayer technology and risk management platform," said Dan Keough, Chairman and CEO of Holmes Murphy and co-CEO of BrokerTech Ventures. "We view TrustLayer's involvement in our inaugural BrokerTech Ventures Accelerator program as a catalyst for them to become the information clearinghouse for the insurance industry, and we are delighted to be a part of their capital raise and continued success."
TrustLayer will use the funding to scale operations to meet the demands of its growing customer base. The capital will also support an expansion of sales and marketing efforts, the development of its digital proof of coverage solution with The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative (the largest blockchain insurance consortium in the U.S.), and integrations with many insurance carrier systems of record.
The seed financing comes after an impressive year for TrustLayer that included considerable growth in industries such as construction, property management, sports and hospitality. TrustLayer also developed new commercial relationships with several of the top 100 brokers and carriers in the U.S. Partnerships formed with insurance and risk industry groups and networks such as BrokerTech Ventures (BTV), The Institutes/RiskStream, Beyond Insurance and MarshBerry, are also playing a large role in expansion success. The next phase of growth will involve rapid scaling in new and existing industries as well as progress towards the vision of a real-time proof of insurance solution for businesses of all sizes, across all industries.
"We are excited to back TrustLayer as they modernize the insurance stack, starting with compliance automation and digital proof of coverage," said David Mort, Partner at Propel Venture Partners. "The customer and investor interest from leading brokerages validates TrustLayer's approach and we look forward to working with all to transform the way the insurance industry shares information."
"We're honored to have the support of so many of the top 100 insurance brokers," said John Fohr, co-founder and CEO of TrustLayer. "Verification of insurance and business credentials is a pain point for millions of businesses and demands a solution that is automated and secure."
