2 Minutes Read Reuters, 1 July – Boltech, a startup in the insurance technology space, announced on Thursday that it had raised $180 million in a funding round led by private equity firm Activant Capital Group, valuing the company at more than $1 billion. The company’s internet platform, which is situated in New York and Singapore, acts as a matchmaker between insurance companies, allowing them to offer clients goods that aren’t always in their area of expertise. Insurance companies spend billions of dollars a year on marketing to attract consumers, some of whom may require financial goods not offered by the company, according to Rob Schimek, bolttech’s group chief executive officer. According to Schimek, a former top executive at insurance company AIG, insurance providers “simply don’t want to say no” to these clients, so they employ bolttech to sell new products. According to him, Bolttech has 150 insurance providers in 14 countries, and the platform has transacted $5 billion in insurance premiums. Non-insurance companies can also sell insurance to customers through Bolttech, and individuals and small businesses can buy insurance directly through the platform. “The brilliance is that the (insurance) exchange has never really been done properly, and everyone held on to their customers so tightly that they wouldn’t sell other people’s insurance, and that’s really just started to change,” said Activant Capital partner Steve Sarracino about why he led such a large round of funding. The cash will be used to develop bolttech’s technology and extend its global footprint, according to Schimek. (Jane Lanhee Lee contributed reporting, and Himani Sarkar edited the piece.)/nRead More