Property insurance technology company RoofMarketplace Inc. announced July 27 that it completed a $5 million Series A funding round.
Whitewater-based RoofMarketplace, which has an online platform for insurance carriers and roofing contractors to fulfill roofing claims, will use the new capital to “accelerate” its growth and technology development, according to a press release.
The company will mainly use the funding for key hires, including 10 to 15 new employees over the next 90 days, said William Bazeley, CEO of RoofMarketplace. It currently has 23 employees, including 13 based in Wisconsin.
“The exciting thing is we have a platform that we rebuilt and launched in March,” Bazeley told the Milwaukee Business Journal. “With this round though, it’s critical because we’ve taken all of these funds to do a few things … scale out the business from a sales and business development and customer service side, but also to bring on several more (software) developers in the Milwaukee market.”
The two to three new developers the company will hire in Milwaukee will mainly work on enhancing the platform, adding functionality that customers have asked for and addressing the underwriting side of the technology, Bazeley added.
Founded in 2013, the firm’s online platform connects property insurance carriers, roofing contractors and homeowners to settle roofing claims. It uses aerial imagery to allow roofers to provide bids for roofing jobs in minutes without visiting the property, the release said.
The funding round was led by Chicago-based Sandalphon Capital and oversubscribed from investors Madison-based Rock River Capital, SageSure Holdings LLC, State Auto Lab Fund and Room & Pillar, the release said.
While the Wisconsin-based company has historically serviced markets in Florida, it has expanded into six states including Texas, the Carolinas, Louisiana and Minnesota, Bazeley said. The new funding will help it achieve its goal to provide the roofing platform and services in over 25 states by the second quarter of 2023.
“We’re growing steadily,” Bazeley said. “Revenues continue to go up and the company as a whole is growing as we continue to expand …our biggest goal right now is scaling into the new markets as we fundraise.”
In June 2021, RoofMarketplace raised $1.1 million in seed funding and established its Milwaukee office in co-working space Ward4 at 313 N. Plankinton Ave., which it continues to use mainly as a “remote” office for meetings, Bazeley said.
