There are founders whose passion for their project is so deep-rooted and infectious that you can’t help but be convinced, from the very first meeting, of the inevitability of their success…like Steve Lekas and Joe Emison, co-founders of insurance company, Branch.

Branch is working to right the wrongs of the industry by reintroducing the noble purpose insurance was meant to serve. Taking a contemporary data science and technology-based approach to the entire insurance value chain – from data acquisition and underwriting, to customer acquisition and distribution – Branch creates a bundled offer, producing a binding quote within seconds, after asking clients for only their names and addresses. Branch’s seamless APIs and data integrations eliminate the need for traditional insurance applications and quote estimates, presenting clients with an instant, purchasable price.

In addition to providing a frictionless purchasing experience, Branch lowers traditionally high customer acquisition costs by embedding its products into a customer’s primary transaction (e.g. car purchase, home security etc.) through affiliate partners. This allows the company to achieve improved unit economics and offer lower prices to its customers.

This combination, instant bind-and-bundle, and its technology-based underwriting and distribution mechanisms represent the defensible complexity that substantially differentiates Branch from its competitors, both startup and incumbent. Branch’s combination of technology efficiencies and modern insurance customer acquisition tactics result in higher retention rates, higher average account premium, higher gross margin, higher LTV and lower CAC than competitors.

As of 2021, Branch was live in 9 U.S. states. Branch will be embedding and selling insurance bundles addressing 80% of the U.S. insurance market by the end of 2021.

But it’s not just their technical and technological superiority that convinced us of Branch’s winning approach; during our diligence process, every Branch employee and partner we spoke to hailed the company’s mission, citing the good work the company is doing to close protection gaps, price policies fairly and promote safety. We are proud to support Branch on this journey!