Armadillo wasn't actively fundraising when it publicly launched its product last September.
But after getting some early press, venture capital firms were knocking on the insurtech startup's door, said its CEO and co-founder Matan Slagter.
"We told them that we weren't in the market for funding and we were more interested in building relationships, but one in particular, Distributed Ventures, was extremely strategic and said all of the right things," he said in an interview last week.
Distributed Ventures, which invests in seed to Series A-stage fintech and insurtech companies, is a relatively new venture fund backed by NFP Corp., one of the world's largest insurance brokerages. It led Armadillo's $3.5 million seed round, but Slagter said it was a distribution deal, not just the capital, that sold him on partnering with Distributed Ventures.
"We're not just raising money for the sake of raising money," Slagter said. "Investors have to be able to contribute to the success of the business, and with NFP, I don't think it could have been any more strategic than that.
"We're just thrilled they reached out, and instead of saying, 'Hey, we have capital' or 'We want to talk about your business,' they said, 'We have a distribution channel for you, and by the way, we also have capital.'"
As I first reported in September, Armadillo, based in Clarksville, Indiana, was co-founded by Slagter and Lansdon Robbins, a local serial entrepreneur who's exited multiple businesses, including PetFirst, Accent Marketing and Service Net Solutions.
As veteran insurance executives, the co-founders identified an opportunity to build a modern home warranty solution that better serves consumers. Robbins serves as chairman of the startup.
Armadillo has been working with several Louisville-based firms to execute on that vision, including Hardscuffle Inc., Slingshot and Donan Engineering.
When I first wrote about the company, it had launched in 20 markets. It's now available in all 50 states and it's selling hundreds of plans, Slagter said. He declined to disclose revenue.
Prior to the investment from Distributed Ventures, Armadillo had four investors, all from the Louisville area.
Armadillo will use the fresh capital to further develop its technology and distribution channels, Slagter said. It recently hired its first CTO, Mike Wolf, and has several more key hires in the works. It has 14 full-time employees in total, and while its offices are in Clarksville, the team is largely distributed.
"From a technology perspective, we're building the best-in-industry home services platform," Slagter said. "We're going to continue to build that proprietary system in 2022; there's a lot still left to do there.
"From a distribution perspective, we're now selling hundreds of policies or plans. Distribution channel development will be a major part of 2022 for us."
