EverQuote

EverQuote is an online insurance marketplace founded in 2011 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

EverQuote, Inc.
FormerlyAdHarmonics
TypePublic
Nasdaq: EVER (Class A)
Russell 2000 Index component
Founded2011
FoundersSeth Birnbaum
Tomas Revesz
Headquarters
Cambridge, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
Jayme Mendal (CEO)[1]
Tomas Revesz (Chief Architect)
John Wagner (CFO)
Websiteeverquote.com

Description

EverQuote began as a marketplace for car insurance but has since expanded to home, health, and life insurance.[2]

EverQuote matches insurance-seekers with companies that others with similar profiles preferred in the past.[3] EverQuote does not directly quote insurance rates. Instead, it selects a few companies whose insurance products were bought by similar drivers in the past, and gives those companies the insurance-seeker's contact information. The company representatives then will quote prices for products they offer.[4]

The company's revenue model is lead generation. Its service is free to insurance-seekers. According to the Boston Globe, "EverQuote collects referral fees from insurance providers when customers buy policies, but it doesn’t allow companies to pay to be included in its recommendations."[3]

History

EverQuote was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Seth Birnbaum and Tomas Revesz, who met at MIT.[3] Originally named AdHarmonics when it began in 2008, the company changed its name to Everquote in 2011, after creating its online insurance marketplace.[5]

EverQuote was a part of the Cogo Labs incubator program run by the Massachusetts-based venture capital firm Link Ventures.[6][7] In 2013, the company moved to its own office space.

In May 2015, MicroStrategy founder Sanju Bansal and Vestmark CEO John Lunny became members of the board of directors.[8] In October 2016, EverQuote received $23 million in Series B funding via Savano Capital Partners, Stratim Capital LLC and Oceanic Partners, and T Capital Partners.[9][10][11]

In 2017, Everquote added $13 million to its previous $23M funding. At the same time, they added Mira Wilczek, CEO of Cogo Labs at the time, to their board of directors, where she replaced Jonathan Shapiro.[6]

In 2020, following the death of company founder Seth Birnbaum, he was replaced as CEO by the company's president Jayme Mendal.[12]

Advertising

In 2016, EverQuote began an Internet advertising campaign featuring images of two young employees (not always the same two employees,) with text such as "How 2 math grads are disrupting the insurance industry." This juxtaposition suggested to many that the young people in the photo were founders of Everquote.[13][14]

In response to controversy over the ads, co-founders Birnbaum and Revesz said that the photos were meant to showcase a "young, diverse" team at EverQuote. In March 2017, Everquote stated that they had paused the ads.[13] Everquote said that future ads would end confusion about the roles of the young employees pictured.[14]

EverDrive app

In 2016, EverQuote launched a new smartphone app called "EverDrive" to help drivers measure their driving safety, based on five criteria: phone use, speeding, accelerating, cornering and braking.[15] Between 1/4 and 1/3 of drivers using this app upgraded their safety skills, over a period of four months, to earn better scores from the app. [16]

See also

References
  1. "EverQuote | About".
  2. Sanchez, Allie (October 21, 2016). "EverQuote start-up raises $23m in fresh capital". Insurance Business America. Retrieved November 17, 2018. EverQuote's initial incarnation was as an online marketplace for car insurance. There are currently 70 carriers and 5,000 agencies on the platform.
  3. Borchers, Callum (May 25, 2015). "EverQuote breaks mold of youthful startup". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 17, 2018. EverQuote matches consumers with a short list of companies it believes will provide the best fit, based on the profile each new user fills out…"If more drivers close with carrier A than carrier B, that data set is letting me know that carrier A is delivering better pricing and better coverage to that kind of consumer without the consumer or us ever having seen a quote."
  4. "Everquote Frequently Asked Questions".
  5. O'Brien, Kelly J (June 4, 2018). "Cambridge-based insurance marketplace EverQuote files for $75 million IPO". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved December 10, 2019. Originally founded under the name AdHarmonics in 2008, EverQuote launched its online insurance marketplace in 2011.
  6. Engel, Jeff (February 23, 2017). "Insurance Marketplace EverQuote Gets $13M More as Growth Accelerates". Xconomy.com. Retrieved May 24, 2018. Fast-growing online insurance marketplace EverQuote has tacked on $13 million to its previously announced Series B funding round, bringing the total amount to $36 million.
  7. Shemkus, Sarah (11 November 2015). "The motivational power of ugly sweaters". The Boston Globe.
  8. Hofherr, Justine (24 November 2015). "CEO desk: Founders of this fast-growing Cambridge start up don't have time for corner offices". Boston.com.
  9. "Fast-Growing Insurance Matchmaker EverQuote Raises $23 Million". Insurance Journal. October 20, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2018. The software recommends carriers based on the consumer's risk profile and information on which carriers consumers with similar profiles have chosen in the past. EverQuote handles 5 million consumer visits per month and has made 50 million referrals resulting in over $3 billion of premiums for agents and their carriers, according to its announcement.
  10. Engel, Jeff (20 October 2016). "Insurance Marketplace EverQuote Grabs $23M to Goose $100M+ Business". Xconomy.
  11. Martin, Dylan (20 October 2016). "EverQuote raises $23M as part of its pre-IPO strategy". Boston Business Journal.
  12. "EverQuote Employees Mourn Sudden Passing of Co-Founder, CEO Birnbaum, 47". InsuranceJournal.com. December 6, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2023. Seth Birnbaum, the entrepreneur co-founder and chief executive officer of the Cambridge, Mass.-based online insurance marketplace EverQuote, passed away on Nov. 28.
  13. Hahm, Melody (March 28, 2017). "The real story behind those two math grads who are 'disrupting the auto insurance industry'". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved May 24, 2018. EverQuote's head of communications told Yahoo Finance the company is in the process of removing the ad with Armin. Moreover, the spokesperson said the company paused the campaign two weeks ago.
  14. Stendahl, Max. "The women in that viral ad? Not who you think they are". The Business Journals. Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 10 March 2017. "The level of preconceived design and thought that you seem to want to apply to this was simply nonexistent. We had a team of campaign managers who are diverse in gender and race and background — but many of whom are Boston grads — come up with this idea and design it."
  15. Martin, Dylan (6 April 2016). "This App Will Tell You If You're a Terrible Driver". BostInno.
  16. McFarland, Matt (18 August 2016). "Your smartphone knows if you're a good driver". CNNMoney. Those who use EverQuote's Everdrive app -- which rates drivers on five factors: phone use, speeding, accelerating, cornering and braking -- show a 31% improvement after using the app, according to the company. The data comes from 25,000 drivers, with over 30 million miles tracked, who used the Everdrive app during a four-month period.
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