Socotra raises $15.2m in Series B funding led by Brewer Lane Ventures

Socotra, a San Francisco-based company providing a cloud-native core platform that enables insurance companies to develop and deploy new products, has raised $15.2 million in a Series B funding round led by Brewer Lane Ventures, an early stage venture firm focused on insurtech and fintech companies, with participation from Portag3 Ventures, 8VC, and MS&AD Ventures.

This round of funding caps off a total of $26 million raised in 15 months and highlights strong investor interest in technology that transforms the way insurance products are created and scaled. The investment will fund further development of Socotra’s platform and fuel the company’s continued growth.

John Kim, founder and managing partner of Brewer Lane Ventures and former president and chief investment officer of New York Life Insurance Company, will also be taking a board seat as part of the investment.

“For the last 20 years, I’ve seen insurers struggle with their legacy technology,” Kim said. “We chose Socotra as our first anchor investment because of their clear vision and impressive execution in modernising the insurance industry. I’m proud to be a part of the positive change Socotra’s technology will have on the industry.”

Socotra said its platform is the insurance industry’s first cloud-native backend, and the first with open configuration and APIs that empower insurers to deploy powerful technology with their choice of engineering resources. Socotra aims to make it easy for insurers to rapidly design and deploy new products in a cost-effective manner to better serve their customers.

“This is an exciting time as Socotra’s momentum continues to accelerate,” said Dan Woods, CEO of Socotra. “Brewer Lane Ventures and Portag3 Ventures have remarkably deep insurance expertise so they immediately recognized what Socotra means for the insurance industry. This additional funding will further accelerate our product development, and our continued growth in the US, Europe, and Australia. Finally, we’re excited to benefit from John Kim’s insights and deep industry experience as he joins our board of directors.”
Socotra’s customers include Nationwide, Mutual of Omaha, IAG, and AXA.