BVA PROVIDES INSUREZONE WITH $8.2 MILLION

InsureZone announced that it has secured $8.2 million in funding from Texas based Buena Venture Associates (BVA), an investment partnership focused primarily on the delivery of financial services over the Internet. BVA provided the capital for InsureZone’s launch two years ago. Fort Worth financier Sid R. Bass is one of BVA’s partners. Most of the new funding, about two-thirds or $5.6 million, is earmarked for technology initiatives, including delivery of a technology platform that will allow InsureZone to achieve end-to-end integration with the rating and underwriting engines of an insurance carrier. The company said such integration will enable it to quote and bind coverage in a completely automated fashion for small-business products such as Businessowners Policy (BOP) and Workers’ Compensation. InsureZone said it has strategic alliances with Chase Manhattan Bank, Wells Fargo & Co., PurchasePro, BuildNet and other brand names known to small-business owners. The company plans to use some of the new funding to expand its business model to address the needs of local and regional agents and national brokers.