UPDATED: American Family teams with Microsoft to accelerate home automation 06/17/2014 American Family Insurance continues its commitment to pursue strategic innovations that can benefit our customers and differentiate our company in the homeowners insurance marketplace. This morning, American Family Insurance and Microsoft Corp., through its Microsoft Ventures affiliate, announced their strategic partnership to launch a startup accelerator focused on home automation. “American Family is the eighth-largest provider of homeowners insurance in the country, and we want to grow in this market,” says Peter Gunder, chief business development officer. “As a protector of homes, we believe home automation holds tremendous potential to offer additional protection that can benefit our customers and impact our business. That potential excites us, and we want to be part of it.” The accelerator will be an immersive experience for startups that are developing products and services that can lead to safer and smarter homes. It will provide selected companies access to expertise, mentorship and insights from Microsoft and American Family, in addition to technology and physical space at Microsoft, all designed to incubate and accelerate market entry and growth. Peter Gunder, our chief business development officer, is interviewed by Microsoft in San Francisco. Dan Reed, left, American Family’s business development director, discusses our partnership with Microsoft with Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s developer and platform evangelism. Microsoft Ventures: Share on Facebook and Connections If you’re interested in sharing information about this alliance on your social media channels, you can: Go to Facebook. You also can customize the copy in the Facebook update window if you wish so it says: Microsoft and American Family Insurance launched a startup accelerator focused on home automation. And, visit the Innovations Conversations Community on Connections to see photos and watch video from today’s event in San Francisco. Add your questions or comments using the #accelerate hashtag. Creating connections with home automation This partnership between Microsoft and American Family is historic in several ways. For Microsoft, this is its first accelerator in the U.S. – it has six other accelerators around the globe – and its first accelerator co-led with another company. In addition to being American Family’s first startup accelerator, this opportunity increases our ability to learn from and harness rapidly changing technology on home automation. Integrating technology into homes may lead to increased customer satisfaction and retention, increased engagement with insurance providers and new risk mitigation and pricing strategies. This opportunity also strengthens our partnership with Microsoft, a technology leader that boasts the world’s largest private software research institute and is ranked No. 5 among best global brands (Interbrand 2013). The accelerator will be called the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in partnership with American Family Insurance. It will run from September to December on Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., campus. The accelerator will be introduced this morning during Microsoft’s Global Startup Day in San Francisco. This event is expected to be widely attended by news media and venture capital investors, and will showcase companies from the international Microsoft accelerators. “Home automation is ripe for startup innovation,” says Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president, developer experience and evangelism for Microsoft. “We are working closely with American Family Insurance to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for entrepreneurs in our accelerator. Startups accepted into the program will gain critical industry insight to build companies with the potential to have an enormous impact on our lives.” “Working closely with startups and making early-stage investments in emerging technology companies is a great way to support the ecosystem and also benefit our customers,” says Dan Reed, director of American Family Ventures. “We look forward to working with the next generation of companies that are reimagining the connected home.” An accelerator on the fast track Here is how the Microsoft-American Family accelerator will work: •Today: Microsoft and American Family unveil the accelerator, seeking applications from emerging technology companies developing products and services that can increase safety, security, convenience and savings for homes and lives. •Mid-summer: Six to 10 companies are selected by Microsoft and American Family to participate in the accelerator. •September to mid-December: The selected companies take part in the accelerator. In our role as co-sponsor, American Family will provide insight on home safety and efficiency and how innovations under development by the startups could apply to and affect insurance. We will also offer business development and marketing expertise to help the startups bring their innovations to market, as well as an optional $25,000 equity investment from American Family Ventures in each startup accepted into the program. •Mid-December: The startups showcase their innovations to potential investors and new media during a demonstration day at the Microsoft campus.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:11:43 +0000
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