Commercial insurance is stuck in a PDF nightmare. 1Fort is building the AI-powered fortress that's changing that—creating a win-win-win for brokers, carriers, and businesses.
There's a special kind of torture reserved for businesses seeking commercial insurance: filling out the same monstrous PDF forms again and again, just to get quotes from different carriers. It's painful, inefficient, and frankly absurd in 2025.
For the 80,000 independent insurance brokers in the United States, this nightmare is their daily reality. And for the businesses they serve, it means longer wait times, fewer options, and ultimately, less optimal coverage.
The 1Fort Vision: A Complete Insurance Ecosystem Revamp
While many startups nibble around the edges of insurance innovation, 1Fort is tackling the entire ecosystem. Their long-term vision is clear and compelling: create tools that help businesses mitigate risk, improve rates, and generate better outcomes for everyone in the insurance value chain.
Instead of filling out four different monstrous PDFs to get quotes from multiple carriers (wasting 75% of everyone's effort), 1Fort's platform handles everything automatically with AI. Their solution doesn't just save time—it fundamentally changes how insurance is bought and sold.
What really sets 1Fort apart is their AI-powered policy analysis. Their system can:
- Instantly summarize complex policies
- Compare different options side-by-side
- Highlight the pros and cons of each
- Make recommendations based on specific business needs
These are tasks that traditionally consume hours of a broker's time, now completed instantly with zero effort.
The No-Brainer Value Proposition
When we conducted due diligence calls with 1Fort's customers, their feedback was unanimously enthusiastic: "This is a no-brainer. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't use it."
The value proposition couldn't be clearer:
- It makes brokers' lives easier
- It helps them make more money
- It gives their clients better options
- There's zero downside
In an industry not known for rapid innovation, this kind of overwhelming positive response speaks volumes.
Young Founders with the Right Mix of Fearlessness and Focus
In Anthony Marshi and Toby Hung, we found exactly the kind of founders who thrive in today's challenging environment: fearless, driven, curious, and creative. Their youth is an asset, not a liability—they're unencumbered by "the way things have always been done" in an industry desperately in need of fresh thinking.
Anthony's background at BCG gave him exposure to the insurance category, while Toby brings valuable experience from AIA (the sixth-largest insurance carrier globally) and go-to-market roles at Google. This combination of industry knowledge and go-to-market expertise is exactly what's needed to drive change in this space.
What particularly impressed us was that they had previously started a venture together that didn't pan out—but they still chose to team up again. As I’ve seen many times, “success has many parents, but failure is an orphan.” Hard moments can bring out the worst in people, but in their case, it revealed resilience, mutual respect, and a strong foundation. The fact that they wanted to keep building together shows exceptional character and mutual respect.
Why Now Is the Time
The commercial insurance industry is ripe for disruption. While other sectors have embraced digital transformation, insurance remains stubbornly attached to PDFs and manual processes. By leveraging AI to streamline these workflows, 1Fort is bringing this essential industry into the modern era.
What's more, point solutions that only address specific lines of coverage force brokers to use different processes for different coverage types for the same client. 1Fort's comprehensive approach covers all lines, creating a seamless experience for both brokers and their clients.
The Road Ahead
As 1Fort's first institutional board observer, I'm excited to support Anthony and Toby as they expand their platform and continue to transform the commercial insurance landscape. Their vision of a more efficient, transparent, and effective insurance ecosystem aligns perfectly with our focus on B2B software that solves real, painful problems.
In a world where AI is revolutionizing industry after industry, 1Fort stands out as a shining example of how intelligent automation can create value for everyone involved. That's exactly the kind of company we're proud to back at Bonfire Ventures.
Bonfire Ventures is proud to have led 1Fort's $7.5M seed round. You can read more about this exciting investment here.
