After entrepreneur Brock Noland found it frustrating to get insurance while purchasing a boat, he founded a company to make buying it much easier — and it's growing steadily.
Two years into the venture, Vertical Insure, the embedded insurance software startup, is expanding its client base, product offerings and revenue. Noland said the company is seeing 100% increases year-over-year with $5 million in revenue in 2023. The company also acquired an insurance company for youth sports, Next Wave Insurance Services.
"It's better than I expected," Noland said. "Usually, starting a company can be a slog, but with this startup, it's been steadily growing."
Noland purchased a pontoon boat in 2021 and knew he needed insurance. Getting the policy took nearly all day. The insurance broker also lost money on writing the policy because it was so inexpensive.
Noland said he wondered why the information provided while purchasing the pontoon boat was not used for the insurance broker as most of it was the same information.
That's when he thought of an idea for embedded insurance software — technology that would allow a seller or platform to have the insurance already available at checkout, digitizing the process. The software could find the best price for the insurance policy instead of a customer going to a third-party vendor.
To launch the business, Noland teamed with Justin Kaufenberg — the co-founder of Twin Cities tech darling SportsEngine Inc.
Vertical Insure acts as a broker for lower-end insurance polices, such as vacation rentals, pet insurance or youth sports activities. Companies can purchase Vertical Insure's software to embed into their website or platform's checkout. Once at the checkout, the customer can choose to purchase insurance at the time of sale, using the information gathered during the checkout process. The software then finds the best price for the policy.
Vertical Insure offers pre-built web or customized components to embed into platforms or websites.
The company focuses on industries like sports, camps and recreation, collectibles, and has added events, travel, property and pet insurance.
Since 2022, the company has grown from five employees to 13. The company has garnered several client partnerships, as well, including pet adoption platform Rescue Spot, event venue management software company Planning Pod, live music venue platform Opendate, and youth sports platform Aktivate.
The company previously raised $4 million in 2022 in a seed funding round and an additional $2 million in 2023.
Noland said going into 2025, the company will focus on growing sales, customer success and engineering the product.
