(Image source: Ranger)
Ranger (New York), a startup founded in 2021 styling itself as an agent-first insurance company featuring an end-to-end digital platform that modernizes the role of insurance agents, evolving their role into a home protection advisor. The company has closed a $5.25 million seed round led by Lerer Hippeau Ventures with participation from former Texas Rangers player Alex Rodriguez, FirstMinute Capital, Slow Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Raven1 Ventures and Montauk Ventures. Ranger says the platform will go live in Fall 2022.
Alex Rodriguez, who also played for the Yankees. Credit: Arturo Pardevila/Wikimedia.
Ranger pitches itself as upending the insurance industry by replacing a system that competes with agents with a platform that elevates their position through new technology and supportive tools. Insurance agents typically generate 90 percent of the $100 billion in annual homeowner’s premiums and 80-90 percent of families still use an agent to purchase home insurance, but that is not reflected in how agents are being treated by insurance carriers, according to Ranger.
Focused on offering best-in-class consumer property/casualty insurance products, Ranger say it will help deliver a better experience for customers buying Ranger’s products and will help optimize agents’ experience by leveraging a modern vertical software solution. Rather than being an afterthought, Ranger says, agents become the arbiters of advice, insights and expertise in family home protection needs.
“The personal insurance market in the U.S. is over $500 billion in annual premiums dominated by legacy players who have neglected agents for decades,” Greg Garrison, CEO, Ranger. “They have also allowed the average household to unknowingly underinsure their homes by $100K or more. With the average family devoting a majority of their net worth to their homes, it’s like they are putting their savings into a bank account that only insures a portion of their deposits. Ranger agents are the experts who help families avoid the tragedies like we saw in Texas a year ago, where after a severe freeze, thousands suddenly discovered they were underinsured and many subsequently lost their homes.”
Garrison describes himself a 15-year insurance veteran who is passionate about improving how insurance operates. After spending almost a decade at global insurer AIG, Garrison says he saw firsthand how much better insurance and protection policies worked in other countries, where the agent model was properly supported and encouraged. Through this experience Garrison say he developed the view that the key to consumer confidence and great customer experience starts at the sale, and if customers know they are making a decision with the help of a trusted expert they will rest easier knowing that they are properly protected.
Ranger says that, with its technology, agents are able to:
- Intuitively exceed customer expectations with convenience and fast response times without sacrificing the human touch
- Replace antiquated manual transaction workflow with an all-digital platform that is DTC competitive, automates administrative tasks, provides instant access to underwriting support, and digitally stores all policies and forms
- Utilize exclusive marketing and support tools to generate better leads, maximize cross-sell, and personalize client services in real-time
- Achieve superior financial outcomes through new incentive models, increased productivity and high-quality referrals
- Predict customer needs over time and service them at a higher level to retain trust and build long-term relationships
Ben Lerer, Managing Partner, Lerer Hippeau.
“The insurance industry remains one of the largest, yet most antiquated industries out there,” comments Ben Lerer, Managing Partner, Lerer Hippeau. “Ranger has a vision to enhance the agent through technology as opposed to competing with the agent. This is fundamentally the right approach to improve both homeowner and agent experiences.”
Ranger was incubated through Montauk Ventures’ Studio Program, the venture capital firm led by Casper Co-Founder and former CEO Phillip Krim.
“Ranger is the future of modern home insurance,” says seed investor, Alex Rodriguez. “Greg and Philip’s vision for how to modernize an agent’s workflow will create a more efficient process and better experience for homeowners.”
Through this seed round, Garrison says he and his team will use the funds to build out Ranger’s digital agent platform, develop its modernized and integrated family-oriented product suite and begin recruiting top agents in initial operating states Ariz., Ind. and Ohio.