Ascend, a modern insurance payments platform that provides automated all-in-one financing, collections, and payables, has announced that they have raised $5.5 million in seed investment funding. The round was led by First Round Capital, with participation from Susa Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Box Group.
A series of strategic angels also contributed to the funding including Joshua Motta, CEO of Coalition; Spike Lipkin, CEO of Newfront Insurance; Gordon Wintrob, CTO of Newfront Insurance; Sam Hodges, CEO of Vouch Insurance; Phillip Hodges, CEO of Layr Insurance; Max Bruner, CEO of Anzen Insurance; Tanner Hackett, CEO of Counterpart Insurance; Chad Nitschke, former CEO of Bunker Insurance; Paul VanderMarck CTO of SageSure; Max Mullen & Brandon Leonardo, Co-Founders of Instacart; & Ben Rubin, Co-Founder/CEO of HouseParty.
“The insurance space is seeing a once in a lifetime transformation,” said Andrew Wynn, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Ascend. “Today, insurance distributors and carriers aren’t enabled with modern technology leaving them stuck with pen and paper processes, outdated systems and complicated operations behind the scenes. This results in a poor customer experience because modern tools for critical things like billing and payments don’t exist. Our mission is to modernize insurance’s financial infrastructure so that carriers and distributors can be successful in today’s digital world.”
“There is a massive opportunity in insurance infrastructure, which is extremely outdated. With Ascend, insurance sellers/distributors now have an effective way to collect payments, offer financing, and handle accounting and payables,” added Bill Trenchard, Partner at First Round Capital. “Automating the many steps of money movement associated with selling an insurance policy, saving lots of time and operational effort will become an industry game changer. We’re excited to stand alongside the team as they continue on this journey.”
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