With an eye toward insurtech and fintech—two burgeoning sectors within the software industry—a new venture capital firm called Brewer Lane Ventures launched in Boston on Thursday.
The firm is headed up by Martha Notaras, who previously led the Menlo Park, Ca.-based insurtech venture capital fund XL Innovate. Notaras will work as managing partner alongside Brewer Lane founder John Kim, who holds the same title.
Kim comes from New York Life Insurance Company, where he worked for 10 years as president and chief investment officer.
"Our investment philosophy is that technology should be used to improve people’s lives, and we partner with founders determined to transform the market for companies and consumers alike," the company wrote in a press release. "[W]e partner with entrepreneurs focused on creating new business models, empowering incumbents, and leveraging insights from data & analytics."
Brewer Lane will target early-stage companies, primarily investing in Series A and B rounds. Kim said insurtech startups will likely make up the vast majority of the firm's investments.
"I believe the whole investment and startup world is not only active in Boston but probably growing in Greater Boston faster than other locations, certainly the Bay Area and even New York City," Kim told BostInno. "We're very bullish on the outlook for venture capital investors in Greater Boston and the opportunity to successfully meet up with entrepreneurs as well."
Despite that standpoint, Boston is just one of several metros Brewer Lane plans to look at: San Francisco, New York and London will also be major investment areas, Kim said.
In early December, Brewer Lane disclosed in an SEC filing that it is seeking to raise $200 million for its inaugural fund. Kim thinks the firm will close on that fund sometime this fall.
As veterans of the insurance industry, Kim and Notaras have identified several trends that will inform Brewer Lane's activity. Kim said he's interested in startups whose technology can support traditional insurance companies. He's also interested in data analytics—an ever-growing field whose tools loop back around to benefit the insurance industry. New York Life was an investor in DataRobot's Series B round back in 2016, when Kim was chief investment officer at the insurance giant.
Brewer Lane also hired Chris Downer and George Castineiras as principals. Downer previously held the same role at Sorenson Ventures and XL Innovate, while Castineiras was a senior vice president at Prudential Financial and managing director at Gibraltar Ventures.
