Annuities insurtech Vigil has raised $1.3mn in a pre-seed funding round led by M25, with support from Nationwide Ventures, Rex Salisbury, Clocktower Ventures, and Meridian Ventures, to advance its API-driven automation solutions for insurance carriers.
Founded in 2023, Vigil offers a white-label digital platform that automates post-issue processing for insurers. The platform improves data collection, guides customers through structured workflows, and supports document uploads and electronic signatures to simplify policy management.
With this funding, Vigil plans to accelerate product development and expand its market presence. The company aims to modernize annuity services, an industry still reliant on paper-based processes.
Victor Gutwein, managing partner at M25, highlighted the industry’s challenges, stating that while paperwork and processes are critical in life insurance and annuities, they have slowed modernization. He noted that Vigil’s product speeds up policy changes, enhances security, reduces errors, and improves client satisfaction.
Mason Entingh, CEO and co-founder of Vigil, pointed out that annuity technology lags behind other insurance sectors. Existing solutions prioritize distribution and order entry rather than servicing policies. He emphasized the need for insurers to rethink service models and create better experiences for financial professionals and policyholders struggling with slow, manual workflows.
It’s no secret that technology in the annuity space is lagging compared to other insurance categories. The majority of solutions that exist today are focused on distribution and order entry rather than servicing existing policies.
Mason Entingh, CEO and co-founder at Vigil
“Of course new business is great, but who’s looking out for all of the people that manage a policy through its post-issue lifecycle? We want to help carriers rethink service from the ground up and build a modern experience for their financial professionals and policyholders who really feel the brunt of today’s slow, manual workflows.”
Reis Renneker, Vigil’s CTO and co-founder, compared the company’s approach to modernization efforts in e-commerce and digital banking. He explained that Vigil provides structured data outputs and enables straight-through processing, turning manual servicing tasks into fully digital workflows.
We’re applying the same modernisation principles that have revolutionised industries like e-commerce and digital banking to the annuity space. By providing carriers with structured data outputs and facilitating true straight-through processing, Vigil transforms manual policy-servicing tasks into fully digital workflows
Reis Renneker, CTO and co-founder at Vigil
This automation improves efficiency, speeds up requests, reduces errors, and enhances the overall servicing experience for carriers and advisors.
