Halifax-based QuickFacts, which provides competitive intelligence for insurance brokerages, has raised $1.13 million CAD in pre-seed funding as it plans for its Canada-wide expansion.
QuickFacts launched in Alberta in May, and plans to use the funding to support its growth throughout Canada and beyond.
Jeff Barsalou, co-founder and chief revenue officer of QuickFacts, told BetaKit that the financing, which is a convertible debt, was raised in a “rolling close,” starting in February, with a final close in May.
QuickFacts says it is making it much easier for brokers to access underwriting knowledge.
Sandpiper Ventures, which invests in women-led tech companies, led the funding. Other contributors include Killick Capital, as well as a number of angel investors, such as former Carta Worldwide CEO Paul Hill, and former managing director at Marsh Canada Neil Mitchell. Both Women’s Equity Labs in Toronto and Vancouver also invested, including their members Julie McGill, Lori Oliver, and Miriam Mowat.
Since it received the first portion of this funding round in February, QuickFacts claims it has grown its team from 10 employees to 16, hiring people in development, insurance, and marketing roles.
According to QuickFacts, its new hires helped the startup extend its market reach into Western Canada. Previously, QuickFacts was only available within Ontario and Atlantic Canada.
Barsalou co-founded QuickFacts with Christy Silvestri, the company’s president and CEO, who had been a broker for nearly two decades. Silvestri said most of her career was spent answering underwriting questions, which was so time consuming it interfered with her management tasks.
“So, we went and built the software I wanted as a broker and manager,” Silvestri said. “The industry is seeing a shortage of experienced brokers and a shift to remote work, so QuickFacts is making it much easier for brokers to access underwriting knowledge.”
QuickFacts’s platform aggregates insurance-carrier underwriting information for brokerages, compiling it into a single searchable database that compares carrier information. The company claims its software can help a standard brokerage with 25 users save an average of $140,000 per year in “wasted productivity,” or the equivalent of two-full time brokers’ salaries.
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Launched in September 2022, QuickFacts said it has over 40 brokerages and 800 active brokers using its software.
After raising this funding, QuickFacts has made several plans to pursue growth. In addition to its searchable database, the startup will offer its solution for insurance-specific workflows this summer.
QuickFacts said it will also start adding functionalities for the commercial market in the fall. The company said it has also partnered with insurance carriers in the United States and United Kingdom for its growth plans in 2024.
Following its Alberta launch, Barsalou told BetaKit that the startup is proceeding to Saskatchewan, then Manitoba, British Columbia, and Québec.
Featured image courtesy QuickFacts.