Central Ohio Attracting More Insurance Tech Startups

Central Ohio continues to experience a rise of financial technology and insurance technology startups that are digitally transforming how people earn, spend, save and invest their money.

Last week, Fintech71, a nonprofit accelerator of financial technology - or "fintech" - startups, started its program for 10 selected startups.

The nonprofit organization was launched earlier this year and run by Ohio-based industry leaders with support from JobsOhio.

"Ohio is home to a multitude of global financial and retail leaders, many of whom are backing Fintech71, eager to both mentor and do business with smart, innovative fintech companies," stated Valentina Isakina, managing director for financial services at JobsOhio and on the nonprofit organziation's board of directors.

This week, Columbus-based Rev 1 Ventures and State Auto Labs Corp. announced Tuesday of a new collaboration to attract such startups that will make an impact on the financial and insurance industries, similar to Amazon's impact on the retail industry.

The subsidiary of the State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. launched a $25 million corporate venture fund with Rev 1 Ventures to support entrepreneurs' technologies, data-driven innovations and distribution technologies.

"The insurance industry is in the midst of an enormous transformation and is poised for a bigger disruption over the next five years than its undergone over the past 50 years," said Kim Garland, managing director of State Auto Labs. "This next progression will come from both inside and outside of the insurance industry. The insurance companies that will be successful in the future are those that leverage innovations from a variety of sources."

Tom Walker, chief executive officer of Rev1 Ventures, said it has "a pretty good pipeline" to attract fintechs and insurtechs.

Columbus has been a "a great launch pad" for startups in the Midwest, he said.

And the challenge for the fund will be to identify the best technologies to further develop.

"This is a critical time for the insurance industry, and we recognize that there is a better way to support the development of innovations that will fuel business success for startups and deliver cutting-edge technologies for enterprises," Walker said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Fintech71 announced its inaugural group of 10 companies. Each had a minimum of one fintech product or solution prototype in the market.

The companies are: Billon from the United Kingdom; San Francisco-based Elafris; India and New York City-based Hexanika; Ireland-based ID-Pal; James from Portugal; Atlanta-based LateShift; PayKey from Israel; Phoenix-based SKOOKii; and SafeChain and Stealth stage, both from Ohio.

Each company is required to have at least two team members attend the full program in person over the course of 10 weeks.

The companies will receive a $100,000 stipend; access to over 100 of world-class mentors; technical advisory support from consulting firm Accenture; introductions to potential clients across the state; and six months of free office space in downtown Columbus.

"We are thrilled about the quality and diversity of this inaugural cohort," said Matt Armstead, executive director for Fintech71, in a statement for the announcement. "In fact, half of the teams are international and represent specialties ranging from blockchain to personal finance. We believe our 10-week program will provide an ideal springboard for these companies to graduate from emerging startups to scalable businesses, especially with access to many Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 partners across Ohio."

The program is scheduled to finish by Thanksgiving.