US-based insurance firm State Auto is set to invest $25m in a strategic investment fund that will be managed by venture capital firm Rev1 Ventures.
The capital was provided by the corporate’s innovation unit, State Auto Labs, and the fund will focus on transformative insurance and financial technologies. State Auto was one of the corporate limited partners for the $22m fund Rev1 closed in September 2016.
The fund will in particular target connected consumer-focused technology, software that uses big data to make decisions more effectively, startups developing new ways to interact with consumers, and products that can provide insurance across new channels.
Kim Garland, managing director of State Auto Labs, said: “The insurance industry is in the midst of an enormous transformation and is poised for a bigger disruption over the next five years than it’s undergone over the past 50 years.
“This next progression will come from both inside and outside of the insurance industry. The insurance companies that will be successful in the future are those that leverage innovations from a variety of sources.”