Hi Marley

Market position

Hi Marley describes itself as the first conversational platform purpose-built for P&C insurance and reports being used by more than 130 carriers, including four of the top ten and five of the top ten J.D. Power Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Award winners. Carrier customers cited by the company say they selected Hi Marley over horizontal texting vendors from banking or other non-insurance backgrounds because of its insurance domain focus.

Exclusive focus on the insurance vertical and founders/team with prior careers in P&C claims; a platform designed from the outset to connect carriers with agents, policyholders and ecosystem partners; insurance-specific workflow features such as claim-file transcript uploads; and proprietary conversational data used to generate benchmarks and competitive intelligence for insurers.

Technology

A smart SMS/conversational platform purpose-built for insurance that supports two-way texting, media sharing (photos, video), automated transcript uploads into claim files, and integration with carrier core systems. The company and its investors describe AI-enabled vertical software including artificial intelligence to surface conversations requiring immediate attention, plus sentiment and conversational analytics that produce insights and benchmarks from insurance conversation data.

Go-to-market

Direct enterprise sales to insurance carriers, supported by demo requests on the company website, customer success management, published customer stories and references from carrier claims executives, and partnerships with P&C insurance industry solution providers. Growth is also described as expanding within existing accounts, with carriers extending the platform from claims into broader customer communication.

Property and casualty insurance carriers — including personal lines, commercial, workers' compensation and specialty/coastal property insurers — plus their claims adjusters, agents, ecosystem service providers and policyholders. Named customers referenced on company materials include West Bend, American Family, MetLife, Philadelphia Insurance Companies, Arbella, Assurant, Amica, Auto-Owners, Amerisure, The Auto Club Group, Donegal Insurance Group, Westfield, Preferred Mutual, Providence Mutual, Mutual of Enumclaw, Ohio Mutual, Union Mutual, Chesapeake Employers Insurance, LWCC, AF Group, Heritage Insurance, Merchants Insurance Group, American Integrity, MPIUA and Heartland Farm Mutual.

Geography

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, serving insurance carriers in the United States, including hurricane-exposed states, with at least one Canadian-style farm mutual customer (Heartland Farm Mutual) referenced among carrier testimonials.

History

After launching in April 2017, the company made early hires and by November 2017 signed its first customer, West Bend. On December 7, 2017, the three co-founders ran the first pilot on site at West Bend, observing three claim representatives over four days. Hi Marley raised its first institutional capital in a Series A round backed by Underscore VC and True Ventures, following a first meeting with Underscore in 2018. In March 2021 the company closed a $25 million Series B led by Emergence Capital, with Emergence founder Gordon Ritter joining the board. By the time of that round the company reported that its carrier count had doubled and its user base had grown four-fold. The company's website currently reports more than 130 insurer customers.