Nationwide Making More Venture Capital Investments In Auto, Home Protection

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 29 -- Nationwide Mutual Insurance issued the following news release:

Nationwide is making a strategic venture capital investment in Nexar, an Israeli-based startup focused on building the world's largest safe driving network. Nationwide's stake in Nexar is part of a new $30 million Series B round of funding recently announced by the Tel Aviv-based company.

"Our venture capital approach is key to Nationwide's innovation strategy," according to Scott Sanchez, Nationwide's Chief Innovation Officer. "We are selectively partnering with organizations with whom we can co-create new solutions that align with our mission to help our members protect what matters most and plan for a secure retirement."

Nexar is using the funding from Nationwide and others to further its mission to eliminate car crashes and expand its vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network by collaborating with insurers, local governments and automakers.

The company offers a free dashcam app connected to a V2V communication network that marries its deep learning and sensor-fusion technology with off-the-shelf hardware to provide advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and collision-prevention alerts to drivers. Nexar also provides next-generation data products and telematics to insurance carriers, such as collision reconstruction and first notice-of-loss reports, which help expedite claims and prevent fraudulent claims.

Since the launch of Nexar's app in 2016, drivers in 740 cities across 160 countries have driven more than 100 million miles with Nexar, with 10 million miles driven in the last month alone. After activating its V2V network in New York City later that year, Nexar saw a 30 percent reduction in collisions among its users.

"Automobile safety is in all our best interest and a top priority for our company," said Erik Ross, leader of Nationwide's venture capital business. "As mobility and transportation continue to rapidly evolve, we have a keen interest in the potential of Nexar's technology to keep drivers, passengers and pedestrians safe - now and in the future."

In addition to the partnership with Nexar, Nationwide recently made a venture capital investment in a California-based startup--Matic --whose technology enables borrowers to purchase homeowners insurance during the mortgage transaction.

Matic, which recently opened an operations center in Columbus, Ohio, has steadily grown since 2016 to become the market leader in lender and servicer distribution of homeowner's insurance. A licensed insurance agent in all 50 states, Matic has delivered more than 300,000 quotes to customers of some of the nation's largest mortgage lenders and servicers.

Last August, Nationwide announced its commitment to invest more than $100 million of venture capital in customer-centric solutions that help members:

* Live comfortably in retirement

* Meet their insurance and financial needs in novel and digital ways

* Protect their data and digital assets

* Protect them in the evolving area of mobility

As part of this commitment, Nationwide launched Nationwide Ventures to invest in startup and early-stage companies that are transforming the insurance and financial services industry. In addition to Nexar and Matic, other significant investments to date include blooom, Insurify, Next Insurance, and Sure.