Insurance Software Provider FirstBest Systems Closes $10 Million in Growth Financing

BEDFORD, Mass., April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstBest® Systems, Inc., provider of insurance software solutions for global property and casualty insurers, today announced the completion of $10 million in funding. With the new round, NewSpring Capital and Verisk Analytics, Inc. join private equity firm Brookstone Partners, which also participated, and existing investor Flybridge Capital Partners, in fueling FirstBest's aggressive growth plans for its market-leading Front Office Suite of solutions. Timed with the new investment, NewSpring's Michael A. DiPiano has joined FirstBest's Board of Directors.

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"FirstBest offers NewSpring a winning combination for a growth equity investment: proven and smart management, a growing roster of enterprise customers, and, of course, a unique and timely offering. The insurance sector continues to embrace the FirstBest Front Office Suite because it's a true 'solution' for unifying and streamlining a business function that's core to the bottom line: underwriting. The ability to compete, grow, and fuel profits quickly is compelling," said Michael A. DiPiano, general partner of NewSpring Growth and the managing partner of NewSpring Capital.

"In 2011, FirstBest doubled our customer base, grew headcount 40 percent, and achieved 125 percent year-over-year growth in orders. Industry research firm SMA's IT spending industry survey revealed that underwriting, agent portal, and agent upload/download business applications are top growth priorities for 2012, indicating we're delivering the right solutions at the right time. This growth equity will help fuel our momentum as a leader in the insurance front office," said FirstBest founder and CEO John Belizaire.

FirstBest's patented Front Office Suite helps insurers drive revenue growth and increase profitability across the enterprise, while improving ease of doing business with the distribution channel. FirstBest's flagship solution, FirstBest UMS™, helps carriers deploy products faster to keep up with market shifts and customer demand. The collaborative underwriting management system streamlines processes, making underwriting faster and more accurate, captures the knowledge of experienced underwriters, helps maintain best practices, and enforces rules across the enterprise. FirstBest Agent™ provides a complete transactional agent/broker portal that facilitates new business and renewals.  FirstBest AppReader™ speeds submissions and increases productivity.

FirstBest will use the additional investments to:

• expand into new segments of the insurance industry
• expand sales and marketing in the United States and new geographies
• expand the engineering team to develop new products and support market-leading advancements, such as mobile applications, for the insurance enterprise
• continually deliver features that help increase underwriting profitability

"At this stage for FirstBest, it was key to select investors who can truly partner with us to deliver on the insurance industry's vision for a single enterprise platform for the front office. Our expanded group of capital partners values the business impact, and growth potential, that our world-class team and Suite offer," added Mr. Belizaire.

"Verisk's strategic investment in FirstBest Systems will bring the full breadth and depth of our risk and rating analytics directly into the underwriter's analysis, pricing, and decisioning. By building Verisk offerings into the FirstBest Front Office Suite, insurers will be able to further streamline processes, increase quality and consistency, and drive improved underwriting profitability — and, ultimately, a better combined ratio," commented Scott G. Stephenson, president and COO, Verisk Analytics, Inc.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics is a leading provider of information about risk to professionals in insurance, healthcare, mortgage, government, and risk management. Using advanced technologies to collect and analyze billions of records, Verisk Analytics draws on vast industry expertise and unique proprietary data sets to provide predictive analytics and decision support solutions in fraud prevention, actuarial science, insurance coverages, fire protection, catastrophe and weather risk, data management, and many other fields. In the United States and around the world, Verisk Analytics helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets. For more information, visit www.verisk.com.

About NewSpring

NewSpring Capital, based in Radnor, PA, with offices in Short Hills, NJ, Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C., is a leading provider of private equity capital to growth, expansion and buyout stage businesses. NewSpring Capital currently manages more than $800 million across three distinct investment strategies. The family of funds consists of: (i) NewSpring Growth, which provides equity capital to businesses within the information technology, business services and enabling technologies sectors; (ii) NewSpring Healthcare which provides equity capital to healthcare companies within the healthcare services, specialty pharmaceutical and medical device sectors; and (iii) NewSpring Mezzanine, which provides mezzanine capital for expansion and buyout stage opportunities across a variety of sectors including business services, healthcare, information technology, and specialty manufacturing. NewSpring Capital combines deep operating knowledge with financial and investing expertise to provide growing companies the financial resources, advice, network of contacts and strategic partnerships necessary to be successful.

About FirstBest

FirstBest® Systems, Inc., is the leading provider of front office insurance software solutions that help global insurance companies improve underwriting profitability, scale their business, and achieve high service levels with agents across the enterprise. The proven FirstBest Front Office Suite has processed more than $6 billion in quotes and includes modular underwriting workstation, agent portal, and agency upload applications, with capabilities for mobile insurance users. Global companies such as XL Group plc, as well as ICW Group Insurance Companies, Pacific Compensation Insurance Company, and Preferred Concepts, LLC, rely on FirstBest to improve underwriting efficiencies and quality, institutionalize knowledge and best practices, and empower everyone in the process to rapidly quote, collaborate, issue, and bind business on a single real‐time platform from anywhere. To learn more, call +1-781-863-6000.

FirstBest is a registered trademark of FirstBest Systems, Inc. FirstBest Front Office Suite, FirstBest UMS, Underwriting Management System, FirstBest Agent, and FirstBest AppReader are trademarks of FirstBest Systems, Inc. 

SOURCE FirstBest Systems, Inc.