Insurance payments platform Ascend raises $5.5 million
Palo Alto-based insurance payments platform Ascend has closed a $5.5 million seed funding round led by First Round Capital, with participation from Susa Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Box Group.
A series of strategic angels also contributed to the funding including Joshua Motta, CEO of Coalition; Spike Lipkin, CEO of Newfront Insurance; Gordon Wintrob, CTO of Newfront Insurance; Sam Hodges, CEO of Vouch Insurance; Phillip Naples, CEO of Layr Insurance; Max Bruner, CEO of Anzen Insurance; Tanner Hackett, CEO of Counterpart Insurance; Chad Nitschke, former CEO of Bunker Insurance; Paul VanderMarck CTO of SageSure; Max Mullen & Brandon Leonardo, Co-Founders of Instacart; & Ben Rubin, Co-Founder/CEO of HouseParty.
Founded earlier this year and led by co-founders and co-CEOs Praveen Chekuri and Andrew Wynn, the startup is built on the premise that, as the insurance industry moves from offline to online, insurance distributors will need to provide a modern seamless customer experience with a payment infrastructure . Its payments APIs automate insurance payments from online point of sale with buy now, pay later financing to the distribution of commissions and carrier payables. According to the company, this will allow insurance distributors to sell more policies by eliminating labor-intensive, expensive processes while providing customers with the great online checkout and financing experience they’ve come to expect.
“The insurance space is seeing a once in a lifetime transformation. Today, insurance distributors and carriers aren’t enabled with modern technology leaving them stuck with pen and paper processes, outdated systems and complicated operations behind the scenes. This results in a poor customer experience because modern tools for critical things like billing and payments don’t exist. Our mission is to modernize insurance’s financial infrastructure so that carriers and distributors can be successful in today’s digital world.” – Andrew Wynn, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Ascend.
