Strategic acquisition to accelerate commercial lines digital distribution
TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — IVANS today announced that it has acquired Ask Kodiak, a pioneering Insurtech offering commercial lines market appetite and search capabilities for the independent agency channel. This acquisition will further enhance IVANS’ robust commercial lines connectivity solutions, specifically IVANS Distribution Platform, to create a more valuable and digital distribution experience at each stage of the insurance lifecycle for the benefit of all stakeholders.
“Our investment in Ask Kodiak furthers our mission to expand the IVANS data superhighway, creating a more connected and valuable digital ecosystem of insurance,” said Reid Holzworth, chief executive officer, IVANS. “Merging Ask Kodiak with the IVANS Distribution Platform will combine the industry’s most robust appetite management and communication tool and the industry’s broadest distribution platform to enable agents, MGAs, carriers and partners to digitize the end-to-end commercial lines policy lifecycle and provide additional opportunities to more broadly connect across more lines of business.”
IVANS will tightly integrate Ask Kodiak’s best-in-class market search and appetite communication technology with IVANS Distribution Platform, the industry’s platform for commercial lines marketing and sales distribution. Leveraging Ask Kodiak’s modern interface, carriers can define and manage appetite in real-time, to support accurate appetite communications and digital submissions, reducing operational cycle time and declination rates. Agencies using commercial quoting solutions supported by IVANS Distribution Platform, will now have access to Ask Kodiak’s advanced appetite matching capabilities to place more of their commercial lines business.
Additionally, IVANS will maintain Ask Kodiak’s current integrations to expand the company’s ecosystem of Insurtech partners and deepen current integrations with existing partners, further building out IVANS’ network of agencies, MGAs, insurers, and technology providers.
“At Ask Kodiak, our mission has always been about helping carriers and agents write more of the risks they want to write, faster and easier,” said Michael Albert, co-founder, Ask Kodiak. “Now with the resources of IVANS behind us, we’ll be able to scale our capabilities and provide our customers with access to the industry’s broadest distribution platform so they can write even more risks with speed and accuracy, further supporting our growth goals.”
About IVANS
IVANS, a division of Applied Systems, is the insurance industry’s exchange connecting insurers, MGAs, agencies, and the insured. IVANS cloud-based software automates the distribution and servicing of insurance products. For more than 35 years, IVANS innovation and expertise has connected 33,000 independent insurance agencies and 430 MGA and insurer partners to enable millions of people to safeguard and protect what matters most in people’s lives.
About Ask Kodiak
Ask Kodiak’s cloud-based, software platform for property and casualty (P&C) insurers markets commercial and specialty products to independent agents and brokers complete with real-time appetite, eligibility, and product highlights critical to rating, quoting and underwriting decisions. P&C insurers can quickly and easily add or update product information and adjust appetite on-demand to optimize inbound application flow in real-time. Extensive analytics help insurers measure product marketing efforts, and better identify new, high-performing agency partners. By providing insight into independent agent coverage needs, Ask Kodiak informs proactive insurer decisions based on real-time visibility into search trends, product market opportunities, and product performance.
CONTACT: Lauren Malcolm IVANS Insurance Solutions 4048420055 lmalcolm@appliedsystems.com
