Better Agency, a Gilbert software company that makes a platform for independent insurance providers, has raised $8 million in series A financing to help the company scale.
The funding was led by Connecticut-based Teamworthy Ventures with additional participation from ManchesterStory Group, Crystal Venture Partners and PHX Venture Partners, which led Better Agency’s seed round last year.
Better Agency makes a web platform for independent insurance agencies to quote and sell policies, process claims and more. The company is working toward becoming a complete “agency success platform” which will be a one-stop-shop for insurance agencies, eliminating the need to work across four or five different softwares.
Will Shaw, co-founder and CEO of Better Agency, said that there are historically three ways to buy insurance: from a direct-to-consumer provider like Geico or Lemonade, from a captive provider like State Farm or from independent providers.
Shaw said the insurance market is changing with more people opting to become independent providers, a move that means more potential customers for Better Agency.
“They [independent agents] get to work with their clients on a more one-on-one basis, they know the local markets really well because they are local experts and are usually local providers and they can offer products from various carriers, not just one carrier,” he said. “We're seeing a big move of captive agencies moving independent. We're seeing that the direct-to-consumer model not flourish the way I think a lot of investors in the insurtech space thought it would.”
Shaw said the company was generating about $800,000 in annually recurring revenue (ARR) last summer and at the end of the first quarter of this year it was already up to about $1.7 million ARR. There are currently about 3,000 daily active users on the platform.
Better Agency started out as a remote first company, but as its local employee count grew the team decided they wanted their own space. The company now has about 20 employees, 10 of which work out of the Gilbert office.
