Announcing the Seed and Series A of ThreeFlow

THE benefits placement system connecting carriers and brokers

By: Rick Zullo, Co-Founder & GP @ Equal Ventures

Today, we’re excited to announce the funding and rebranding of ThreeFlow, a benefits placement system that creates a shared environment between brokers and carriers. While today is a major milestone for the ThreeFlow team, this story is multiple years in the making.

We first met Ryan (ThreeFlow’s co-founder and CEO) just as Equal was getting started. The company had been known as WatchTower Benefits (as it was up until yesterday) and was introduced to me by my long-time friend and Equal LP, Shawn Ellis of NFP. Shawn was CEO of a benefits company we had incubated at Lightbank and is amongst the most forward-thinking minds you will find in the benefits industry. Shawn knew that we were on the hunt for solutions that could enable transformation of the brokerage process, rather than attempting to disrupt it by disintermediating brokers. Having worked with companies like Riskmatch, we believe brokers are critical to the value chain and were searching for the next platform to enable the industry.

When I met Ryan, he didn’t ask for capital, he asked for advice. He, Richard and Shaheeb (his co-founders) had already been working on the company for multiple years and the venture community didn’t get what they did, making it difficult for them to raise capital. I would have understood Ryan giving me the hard-sell, but instead, we developed a relationship over the next 9 months. We spoke monthly, ping-ponging ideas on strategy, pricing and customers. When having dinner with the team one night, I asked Richard (co-founder and COO) whether he wanted a “cheerleader” or a “personal trainer” and his response is one of my all-time favorites — “Rick if you aren’t pushing us to be better, why are you here? ‘Barry’s Bootcamp’ my ass.” We were able to take time to get to know each other and I’m incredibly grateful we did.

We ultimately led their seed round the same month we did the first close of our fund. It was a huge portion of the limited committed capital we had and seemed like a “bet the farm” investment at the time. In many ways, Ryan, Richard and Shaheeb were betting on us too. We were new to the game and trying to prove ourselves as well.

18 months later, ThreeFlow has emerged as one of the fastest-growing companies in the insurtech landscape. Their value proposition is simple — “make busy people more productive.” Their platform brings brokers and carriers onto a single system, enabling unprecedented efficiencies that make it easier for the BEST brokers to find the BEST benefits, at the BEST price for the BEST employers. The company is loved by its customers (and employees) and is quickly becoming the industry standard across brokers and carriers.

While there are many stories to tell about ThreeFlow, the best ones are yet to come. We’re honored to have had the opportunity to grow along with this company and couldn’t be more excited to continue our journey with them in the years ahead.

Congratulations to the ThreeFlow team!

For more information on ThreeFlow, please visit their website and check out our recent announcement in Forbes.