Des Moines, IA – September 19, 2019 – Holmes Murphy, one of the nation’s largest employee-owned and controlled brokerages, along with M3 Insurance, PayneWest Insurance, ABD Insurance & Financial Services, Conner Strong & Buckelew, and Assurance, are pleased to announce the launch of BrokerTech Ventures, the first program specifically for investors and innovators building the next generation of tech solutions for insurance agencies and brokerages.

“There is an ongoing need for technology solutions specific to agents and brokers, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of this cutting-edge initiative,” said Dan Keough, Holmes Murphy chairman and CEO. “BrokerTech Ventures will alleviate some of these pain points by creating an ‘innovation hub’ for startups to test broker-centric ideas and products, while bringing new and innovative ideas and solutions to our customers.”

BrokerTech Ventures will deploy a highly intentional accelerator curriculum, as well as a veteran mentoring network, seed funding for a portion of the chosen startups’ research and testing, and a distribution platform to deploy the technologies. The window for startup companies to apply for a spot in the first BrokerTech Ventures cohort will open in late October of this year, with program launch planned for February 2020. 

“The idea behind the alignment of BrokerTech Ventures as both an accelerator and an investment vehicle is that we, and our agency partners, have an opportunity to shape a product or solution alongside the startup,” said Mike Victorson, M3 Insurance president and CEO and BrokerTech Ventures co-founder alongside Holmes Murphy. “We intend on being active participants in the insurance technology space and offering a testing ground to benefit our customers.”

In further building the resources available through BrokerTech Ventures, the owner agencies plan to partner with additional privately held, like-minded, and geographically diverse insurance agencies and brokerages. A targeted, executive search is in progress for the organization’s first managing director, and Brian Hemesath, former managing director of the Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA) and a noted InsurTech leader, will provide guidance and counseling on the initiative as the architecture and curriculum for BrokerTech Ventures are built.