Heffernan Insurance Brokers and BrokerTech Ventures Participate in TrustLayer $6.6 Million Seed Financing

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Feb 03, 2021, 20:04 ET

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Heffernan Insurance Brokers, one of the largest full-service, independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States, is participating in a seed round financing for TrustLayer, a next-gen collaborative risk management platform and the insurance industry's first real-time proof of insurance verification solution. Abstract Ventures led the investment along with Propel Venture Partners, NFP Ventures, and Precursor Ventures.

With an abundance of interest, the round was heavily oversubscribed, a reflection of the strength of TrustLayer's current compliance software and its success in developing a digital proof of insurance solution. Twenty of the top 100 insurance agencies in the U.S., as well as their C-suite executives, also participated in the round. In addition to Heffernan, some of these participating agencies include Holmes Murphy, M3, NFP, and Graham Company.

BrokerTech Ventures (BTV), a group made up of 13 of the most innovative insurance agencies in the U.S. and 11 top-tier insurance companies, is also a participant in the seed round. This represents BTV's first investment in a cohort member of their accelerator.

The seed financing comes after an impressive year for TrustLayer that included considerable growth in industries such as construction, property management, sports and hospitality. TrustLayer also developed new commercial relationships with several of the top 100 brokers and carriers in the U.S. Partnerships formed with insurance and risk industry groups and networks such as BrokerTech Ventures (BTV), The Institutes/RiskStream, Beyond Insurance and MarshBerry, are also playing a large role in expansion success. The next phase of growth will involve rapid scaling in new and existing industries as well as progress towards the vision of a real-time proof of insurance solution for businesses of all sizes, across all industries.

"We're honored to have the support of so many of the top 100 insurance brokers," said John Fohr, co-founder and CEO of TrustLayer. "Verification of insurance and business credentials is a pain point for millions of businesses and demands a solution that is automated and secure."

"We continue to be impressed and encouraged by the momentum and industry adoption of the TrustLayer technology and risk management platform," said Dan Keough, Chairman and CEO of Holmes Murphy and co-CEO of BrokerTech Ventures. "We view TrustLayer's involvement in our inaugural BrokerTech Ventures Accelerator program as a catalyst for them to become the information clearinghouse for the insurance industry, and we are delighted to be a part of their capital raise and continued success."

"We are excited to back TrustLayer as they modernize the insurance stack, starting with compliance automation and digital proof of coverage," said David Mort, partner at Propel Venture Partners. "The customer and investor interest from leading brokerages validates TrustLayer's approach and we look forward to working with all to transform the way the insurance industry shares information."

About Heffernan Insurance Brokers
Heffernan Insurance Brokers, formed in 1988, is one of the largest independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States. Heffernan provides insurance and financial services products to a range of businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Truckee, Bakersfield, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles and Irvine, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Portland, OR; Seattle and Olympia, WA; St. Louis, MO; Philadelphia, PA; and London UK.

Employee-owned, Heffernan Insurance Brokers was named the Top Mid-Sized Broker in the United States to work for in 2009 by Business Insurance Magazine. The firm has been among the Top Greater Bay Area Philanthropists since 2003.

For more information, visit www.heffins.com. License #0564249

About TrustLayer
TrustLayer is a collaborative risk management application that helps reduce friction between businesses. Companies can automate the verification of insurance, licenses, and compliance documents of their business partners (i.e., vendors, subcontractors, suppliers, borrowers, tenants, ridesharing and franchisees).

TrustLayer is also working with dozens of the largest brokers and carriers in the U.S. to build out a digital proof of insurance solution so companies will be able to automatically validate their business partners have the correct coverage.

For more information on TrustLayer, visit http://trustlayer.io

SOURCE Heffernan Insurance Brokers