US-based insurance firm Liberty Mutual launched a $150m corporate venturing fund yesterday that will invest in early-stage companies developing technologies and services relevant to the insurance industry.
Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures will form part of the company’s personal insurance division, Liberty Mutual Global Consumer Markets, and will target areas including the connected home, next-generation vehicles and the sharing economy.
The unit will typically invest between $1m and $5m at a time and will aim to co-invest with “a strong VC lead”. Dan Robinson and Russ MacTough will run it as managing directors and will work alongside associate Josh Cohen and senior analyst Annabel Yee.
Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures’ first investment is in US-based smart key developer August Home, which received an undisclosed sum. August produces smart locks and home access technology, and recently formed a partnership with Liberty Mutual to secure cheaper insurance for August customers.
Tim Sweeney, president of Liberty Mutual Global Consumer Markets, said: “As society changes, so does the need to provide insurance solutions to customers for needs that may not have existed before.
“We are excited to support a company like August Home that is on the leading edge of innovation in our industry, and we are putting the investment behind it to further these types of innovative solutions for our customers.”
Founded in 2012, August had previously raised about $50m in funding, including $38m in a March 2015 series C round featuring mass media company Comcast, mobile chip maker Qualcomm, data storage company SanDisk, telecommunications firms KDDI and Singapore Telecommunication, and talent agency Creative Artists Agency.
Other existing investors in August include Global Brain, Dolby Family Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Maveron, Cowboy Ventures, Industry Ventures, Rho Ventures and SoftTech VC.