In 2014, the Global Insurance Accelerator was a first for Iowa in many ways, including how it brought together seven local insurance companies to partner and invest in an accelerator dedicated to advancing innovative ideas for the insurance industry. Those founding investors were Principal Financial Group, Delta Dental of Iowa, FBL Financial Group, IMT Insurance, […]
Waukee-based payment processing company VizyPay has announced a strategic partnership with Clear Lake Bank & Trust. Through this relationship, Clear Lake Bank & Trust’s small business customers will be connected directly with VizyPay’s team and technologies that are designed to help “mom-and-pop shops that are often left behind or overcharged by other payment processors reduce payment processing […]
BrokerTech Ventures announced it has hired Emily Schultz as its new managing director. Schultz will be responsible for setting and executing on the strategic direction of BTV to help advance innovation within the broker technology industry. Schultz will also be responsible for leading BTV’s five towers of operation — early-stage investments, innovation, capital, media and communications, and […]
Ben Milne, founder and CEO of Brale, a startup combining aspects of centralized and decentralized finance, was appointed in March as a member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Technology Advisory Committee. The Technology Advisory Committee was created in 1999 to advise the commission on complex issues at the intersection of technology, law, policy and […]
Applications are now open for the Global Insurance Accelerator’s 2024 hybrid accelerator program. The program will follow the same 15-week hybrid model the GIA has used for the last two years. Companies that join the GIA’s program are typically early stage (pre-seed to seed) insurtech companies with one to two founders who are looking to solve […]
Jeff Reed is known as a serial entrepreneur and a supporter of innovation at local organizations and in the community. This year, he is the Business Record’s innovationENTREPRENEUR award winner. Reed started a new venture, Momentum Studios, in May. The strategy and innovation consulting company offers services such as developing strategies for organizationwide goals, helping […]
VizyPay has announced the launch of its proprietary dual pricing program, which offers customers an option to pay less by paying with cash and small businesses the opportunity to keep more of their sales. Under dual pricing, a business offers the customer the regular price and the cash price, with cash being cheaper because credit […]
The Technology Association of Iowa has announced the first cohort that will participate in Iowa Tech Connect, a new program in partnership with John Deere and EMC Insurance Cos. designed to help develop early-career technology professionals in Iowa. TAI selected 25 candidates for the interactive, six-month program that will focus on providing professional development and […]
BrokerTech Ventures announced Tuesday it has partnered with Des Moines-based venture capital investor ManchesterStory to launch the BrokerTech Fund LP. According to a news release, it is the first venture capital fund focused on early-stage insurtech companies developing technology solutions for brokers. Limited partners of the $34 million fund include Holmes Murphy, M3 Insurance, Baldwin Risk Partners, […]
By Lisa Rossi Insurance companies continue to face a changing world, including a retiring workforce, global upheavals and issues of inflation and interest rates. At the April 20 CEO panel and InsurTech Founder panel at the Global Insurance Symposium, we heard strategies for facing these changes. Speakers included:CEO panelAnant Bhalla, chief executive officer and president, […]