Serious Social Media lands $700,000 investment from two Iowa insurers
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Oct 17, 2016 | 8:12 pm
2 min read time
368 wordsAll Latest News, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, InsuranceSerious Social Media, a maker of social media software for insurers, has received a $700,000 private capital investment from two Global Insurance Accelerator investor companies.
Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. is the lead investor for the equity stake inSerious Social Media, which graduated earlier this year from the Des Moines-based insurance technology accelerator program and has since moved the bulk of its operations from Anaheim, Calif., to Des Moines. West Des Moines-based IMT Group was also a participant in the funding round.
“These early-stage investments confirm our product meets an urgent need in the insurance industry,” said David Beall, Serious Social Media CEO. “These funds have accelerated our timeline for growing our staff, broadening our marketing efforts and onboarding customers.”
Beall said Grinnell Mutual and IMT Group are among about a dozen insurance company clients that are implementing its social media software product, InsuranceSocial.Media. The product provides personalized content for insurance agents and automatically posts updates on agents’ social media platforms.
Kurt Eaves, Grinnell Mutual’s vice president of underwriting and production and a GIA mentor, said many of the independent agents his company works with are eager to market through social media, but don’t have the staffing or resources to keep an active social media presence.
“Serious Social Media provides a great solution to this dilemma,” he said, “and we’re proud to have taken the lead in their seed investment round. It will allow our independent agents to have a necessary and effective communication tool — a robust social media presence.”
Serious Social Media is the second GIA graduate to receive additional funding from insurers involved in the GIA program. In March, Drive Spottersecured $750,000 in funds from a group of investors led by Grinnell Mutual.
Serious Social Media, which moved into the Gravitate co-working space in downtown Des Moines about three months ago, currently has seven employees in Iowa and plans to add two more people to its content development staff by the end of the year, Beall said.
“We’re just really excited about being now physically located in Des Moines and expanding our company,” Beall said. “The reception we’ve received from the insurance companies here in Iowa has been wonderful and has moved us from concept to reality.”