Thanks to the emergence of today’s technologies, consumers have adopted an expectation of expeditious service across nearly every industry. Naturally, this extends into the insurance space where big-name carriers are equipped to meet their customers’ modern demands. However, for independent insurance agents, keeping up the pace is easier said than done. Grapevine-based SALT is building a solution to put time back into these agents’ lives.
SALT announced the close of a $2 million round of Series A funding. Led by Eagle Venture Fund, the raise will help the startup develop its insurance tech platform. For independent insurance agents offering home and auto insurance, SALT automates the time-consuming process of data collection and entry.
“Many insurance carriers rely on independent agents as the distribution channel,” Casey Hege, SALT’s marketing director, told Built In via email. “When we began our Series A, there were over 38,000 independent agents in the nation. Each of those agents spends a significant amount of their time collecting prospect data to quote and rate insurance. SALT is a niche tool to help enhance the consumer data collection process and the customer experience an agent can provide to potential customers.”
SALT equips independent agents with the technology needed to match the capabilities of major providers like GEICO and Progressive. Its solution can reduce an agent’s quoting time by almost 50, according to SALT. In Q1 this year, the company grew its agent subscriber base by 40 percent.
The company plans to build out its seven-person team with its new funding. The company is currently hiring for an outbound sales representative and across customer tech support. The rest of the money will help SALT fuel product development and marketing efforts at industry conferences.
“With a well-resourced sales team we are anticipating a great ground game where we are attending every industry conference that we can and building relationships with agents and other channel partners,” Hege said. “Longer term, and with increased brand awareness, we will invest heavily into an inbound marketing strategy to supplement our ground game sales efforts.”
