A Tampa-based insurance technology startup that’s bringing artificial intelligence to traditional distribution processes received its first investment in a $3.5 million funding round led by Boulder, Colorado venture capital firm Markd.
Irys Insurtech Inc. plans to disrupt the “stagnant” market of legacy insurance agency management systems that CEO Margeaux Giles says desperately needs an update.
Markd “shares our vision of breaking free from outdated, restrictive insurance practices,” Giles said. “We’ve assembled a group of intelligent, motivated and unorthodox insurance entrepreneurs. We’re not just shaking the tree; we’re uprooting it,” she said.
Giles plans to use the investment to scale Irys’ software platform, a cloud-based management system that uses AI and machine learning to enable data sharing between agents and brokers on a unified platform.
Irys also received follow-on investments from Brokertech Ventures, Cofounders Capital, Mtech Capital and Charlotte, North Carolina-based tech accelerator RevTech Labs, according to the startup.
Markd, an insurance-focused VC firm, launched in March 2022 with a $100 million fund.
“In my distribution experience, there was never a bigger drag on growth, profitability, innovation and customer happiness than an agency management system,” Markd Managing Partner Parker Beauchamp said.
