Liberty Mutual’s personal insurance unit has launched a venture capital arm, with its first investment a home-security technology company.
Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, as the initiative is known, oversees a $150 million fund that invests in technologies related in some way to insurance and the programs offered by the Boston-based Fortune 100 company. The fund will focus on three areas: smart products to use in the home, car technology, and the sharing economy. LMSV is aiming for investments of $1 million to $5 million in late-seed to growth-stage ventures.
Its first investment, San Francisco-based August Home, makes smart locks that create temporary, virtual keys for house cleaners, dog walkers and other visitors. Users can control the system on their smartphones. Liberty Mutual currently offers a program that gives policyholders discounts on their home insurance for using smart home-security products like the August Home system.
