Earlier this week, IVANS, a division of Applied Systems, announced that it has acquired Ask Kodiak, a pioneering InsurTech offering commercial lines market appetite and search capabilities for the independent agency channel. 

Agencies using commercial quoting solutions supported by the IVANS Distribution Platform will now have access to Ask Kodiak's advanced appetite-matching capabilities to place more of their commercial lines business.

The acquisition is the latest in a string of additions to Applied's commercial lines technology solutions. In January, Applied announced its intention to buy EZLynx, a pioneer in real-time comparative rating and one of the fastest-growing agency management systems in the U.S. In 2019, the company bought Indio, a market-leading solution for digitizing insurance applications and renewal forms.

Ask Kodiak's cloud-based software platform for property-casualty insurers markets commercial and specialty products to independent agents and brokers complete with real-time appetite, eligibility, and product information that is critical to rating, quoting and underwriting decisions. It enables p-c insurers to quickly and easily add or update product information and adjust appetite on-demand to optimize inbound application flow in real-time.

The extensive, data analytic-led approach helps insurers measure product marketing efforts and better identify new, high-performing agency partners. By providing insight into independent agent coverage needs, Ask Kodiak allows proactive insurer decisions based on real-time visibility into search trends, product market opportunities and product performance.

“At Ask Kodiak, our mission has always been about helping carriers and agents write more of the risks they want to write, faster and easier," said Michael Albert, co-founder, Ask Kodiak. “Now with the resources of IVANS behind us, we'll be able to scale our capabilities and provide our customers with access to the industry's broadest distribution platform so they can write even more risks with speed and accuracy, further supporting our growth goals."

The acquisition will further enhance IVANS' robust commercial lines connectivity solutions, specifically the IVANS Distribution Platform, to create a more valuable and digital distribution experience at each stage of the insurance lifecycle. IVANS will maintain Ask Kodiak's current integrations to expand the company's ecosystem of InsurTech partners and deepen current integrations with existing partners, further building out IVANS' network of agencies, managing general agents, insurers and technology providers. 

“Our investment in Ask Kodiak furthers our mission to expand the IVANS data superhighway, creating a more connected and valuable digital ecosystem of insurance," said Reid Holzworth, chief executive officer, IVANS.

“Merging Ask Kodiak with the IVANS Distribution Platform will combine the industry's most robust appetite management and communication tool and the industry's broadest distribution platform to enable agents, MGAs, carriers and partners to digitize the end-to-end commercial lines policy lifecycle and provide additional opportunities to more broadly connect across more lines of business," Holzworth added.

IVANS, a division of Applied Systems, is the insurance industry's exchange. IVANS' cloud-based software automates the distribution and servicing of insurance products. For more than 35 years, IVANS has connected 33,000 independent insurance agencies and 430 MGA and insurer partners.

Will Jones is IA editor-in-chief.