Michael Remmes leads the ventures office of US-based insurance firm State Farm and oversees M&A, strategic alliances and venture capital investing. The office was launched in July 2018 and a $100m fund was announced the following September.
Remmes enjoys the opportunity to help State Farm try new approaches and is excited about being able to help startup companies reach their full potential. He said: “I really enjoy meeting new people and hearing different perspectives.”
Even though it can be challenging to build something from scratch, Remmes and his team have received support and advice both from within State Farm and from other CVCs. “The collegiality within the venture capital industry is amazing,” he remarked.
The ventures team have set up a board and governance structure and are building repeatable processes to streamline the work. Remmes added that the unit had so far made a couple of investments.
Mark Oakley, senior vice-president at State Farm, said in his nomination of Remmes: “Mike’s background, skills and knowledge of State Farm give him the tools he needs to be successful in this new role. I am very excited about the future of State Farm Ventures.”
Remmes graduated with an accounting degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and also from law school at University of Iowa. “I am a certified public accountant and an attorney and worked as a tax attorney for 31 years – five years with a very large public accounting firm and 26 years with State Farm.”
