Nationwide's $1.5B tech investment; Coalition acquires Wirespeed: Insurance news

The following summaries are written by the Digital Insurance editorial staff.

Digital Insurance reviews a high volume of news leads every week for this and other stories. Please send press releases and other information to kaitlyn.mattson@arizent.com.

Nationwide announces major investment in technology innovation

"The world is in the next industrial revolution. It's happening now, and it's powered by artificial intelligence that is transforming how all of us work," said Nationwide CEO Kirt Walker in a release announcing the company's $1.5 billion investment in technology innovation initiatives. The company has earmarked $100 million for advancing AI each year for the next three years. 

The company's investment stems from using technology and AI to make it easier for customers and business partners to interact with Nationwide through more customized solutions that will focus on human-machine collaboration, providing tools to help customers solve problems and creating an operating model that is agile and evolving to address changing needs. Nationwide has invested $5 billion in technology modernization over the past 10 years.

Coalition acquires Wirespeed

Coalition announced the acquisition of Wirespeed, a cybersecurity platform. 

Joshua Motta, Coalition's CEO and co-founder, said in a statement: "The acquisition of Wirespeed represents the next phase of Coalition's mission to protect the unprotected. By combining fully automated, rapid Managed Detection & Response (MDR) with our active insurance platform, we're bringing best-in-class cyber protection to organizations of every size—and as a cybersecurity provider whose incentives are directly aligned with our customers in preventing losses, we're setting a new standard for digital risk prevention."

Wirespeed MDR will integrate data from Coalition's Active Data Graph. Wirespeed CEO and co-founder Tim MalcomVetter will join Coalition as general manager, security, and CTO and co-founder Jake Reynolds will become head of engineering, Coalition Security.

Acrisure appoints chief corporate affairs officer

Acrisure announced Aaron Radelet as chief corporate affairs officer. In this new role, Radelet will oversee the company's overall corporate brand strategy including communications and public affairs.

Radelet was previously chief communication officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance and chief communications officer at Hilton. 

John Tuttle, president of business development, said in a statement: "Aaron is a highly respected expert in building and promoting global brands, and we're thrilled to welcome him as Acrisure's success becomes increasingly recognized worldwide."

Acrisure also recently announced Benjamin Funk as chief technology and chief AI officer. Funk will lead global technology strategy and focus on AI transformation.

FM names Alison Erbig EVP and CFO

Alison Erbig has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of commercial property insurer FM. Erbig will oversee all financial aspects of the company including financial reporting, tax, financial planning and analysis, treasury operations, corporate real estate and more, as well as lead their risk management and enterprise resilience functions. Erbig succeeds Kevin Ingram, who retires from FM on Dec. 31.   

"We are excited to welcome Alison to FM," said Malcolm Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer of FM in a statement. "With her strong track record leading financial strategy, enterprise planning and risk management, she brings deep experience and strategic vision to the CFO role."

Cytora, Fenris partner to add data for underwriting risk

Digital risk processing platform Cytora has partnered with Fenris, a real-time data enrichment and predictive AI solutions provider serving insurers.

Under the partnership, Fenris will embed its intelligence into the Cytora platform, to enhance the underwriting process. Submissions on Cytora's platform will automatically be enhanced with Fenris data.

"This integration accelerates application processing through effective pre-fill and empowers underwriters to triage risks faster and make better-informed decisions, grounded in rich external data," said Juan de Castro, COO of Cytora, in a press release. 

MG Skinner turns to another Origami Risk service

Specialty insurance broker MG Skinner has implemented Origami Risk's software as a service (SaaS) platform for its crime and D&O insurance lines serving residential condos and HOAs.

MG Skinner previously implemented Origami Risk's risk management information system and claims administration platform in its Skinner Select suite for commercial and multi-family residential real estate products.

"Once again, Origami Risk has brought us a scalable and versatile state-of-the-art platform that checks all the boxes and helps facilitate distribution and the service needs for our agents," said Ryan Skinner, president, MG Skinner, in a press release.

ReSource Pro acquires Supportive Insurance Services

Insurance operations company ReSource Pro has acquired insurance licensing and renewal services provider Supportive Insurance Services (SIS).

The acquisition links SIS's adjuster licensing and compliance services with ReSource Pro offerings including tax filing and reporting services. Insurers will be able to access end-to-end compliance solutions following the acquisition. 

"Compliance is a complex and often misunderstood area of insurance," said Dan Epstein, CEO of ReSource Pro, in a press release.  "By bringing SIS into ReSource Pro, we are leveraging deep insurance expertise supported by technology, to help our clients stay compliant and ahead of new requirements."

Beyond Risk insurance company chooses Kalepa AI platform

P&C and captive insurance company Beyond Risk has chosen the Kalepa AI underwriting platform serving commercial and specialty insurance needs.

Beyond Risk affiliates will be able to use the platform to modernize underwriting workflows, accelerate profitable growth, and enhance the rating experience.

"Partnering with Kalepa represents a significant step forward in our mission to build a more scalable, data-driven underwriting engine," said Joe Foley, COO of Beyond Risk, in a press release. "As we expand our programs and submission volumes grow, we needed a solution that could eliminate manual bottlenecks while enhancing underwriting efficiency and discipline."

insured.io and Silvervine Software partner on policy administration tasks

insured.io and Silvervine Software have partnered to expand access to insured.io's messaging and payment capabilities through SIlvervine's policy administration system.

Silvervine customers can connect to the insured.txt platform, bridging policy administration to automated alerts for billing, renewals, cancellations and other policy events.  

"By delivering reminders with direct text-to-pay links, carriers empower customers to act immediately, before the next distraction in life takes over. It's a faster, smarter way to strengthen relationships and keep policies in force," said Lola Misicka, president of Silvervine Software, in a press release.