US-based insurance and financial services group Nationwide pledged yesterday to invest more than $100m in startups through Nationwide Ventures, the corporate venturing unit it launched in early 2016.
Nationwide plans to fund companies developing technology or services that cover insurance and financial transactions, as well as data protection, retirement-age living and protection for customers in the mobility space.
Terrance Williams, chief marketing officer of Nationwide, will oversee those efforts having been appointed president of emerging businesses.
Scott Sanchez, president of innovation at payment technology provider First Data, will join Nationwide as chief innovation officer next month and will report to Williams.
Nationwide Ventures has so far backed six companies but its investments, which include online investment platform Blooom and online or mobile insurance providers Next, Insurify and Sure, have chiefly been in its core area of operations.
The company has however launched a business incubator called Refinery 191 that will partner startups, universities and other corporates to develop new technology. It is also among the limited partners for insurance-focused venture capital firm Rev1 Ventures’ first fund.
Steve Rasmussen, Nationwide’s chief executive, said: “Nationwide’s core mission is to deliver value for our members by protecting what’s important to them.
“This organisational change allows us to focus on emerging businesses and invest in startups that align to that mission. At the same time, we want to anticipate the future needs of our members and improve current processes and offerings to remain best in class.”