Why Denver, Why Now, and Why Pie
There’s nothing like a classic start-up story. Microsoft started in a garage, Nike launched from the trunk of a car, Facebook was born in a dorm room, and FUBU was built in a basement. This, on the other hand, is not that story. In fact, the origin story of Pie is still being written—and it's opening chapter began just a short time ago.
In October of 2017, John Swigart and Dax Craig started Pie Insurance. They didn’t launch in a backyard or spare bedroom but from separate offices across the country. John, who’d served on the Esurance executive team for 13 years, lived in Washington D.C. While Dax, who’d spent the previous decade building Valen Analytics, called Denver, Colorado home. Both had a vision to disrupt the insurance industry, both were excited to build a company from the ground-up, and both... refused to move. Flip through the pages and: Pie launched successfully, raised $61 million in funding, and has already expanded coverage to states all over the nation—while both John (CEO) and Dax (President) stayed right where they were. The spoiler of this story? It works. A team of about fifteen operates from an office in vibrant downtown D.C., and a team of more than one hundred works in Denver’s LoDo near Union Station.
The decision to expand operations in Denver was easy to make. As more people leave the busy Bay Area for the Mile High City, tech talent has filled the downtown ecosystem. This trend is especially important to Pie at this point in our story. We raised a significant Series B in March, so the time is perfect to welcome more Pie-oneers to help drive our product automation and expansion.
Pie’s mission is to make getting workers’ compensation insurance as easy as pie. As American small business owners support our economy and inspire our future, navigating an outdated system (and complicated insurance jargon) is just not a good use of their time or money. Pie is here to fix that. We save small businesses up to 30% on workers’ compensation costs and provide a seamless, simple online process throughout. Everything from providing a quote to caring for an injured employee has been crafted with transparency and convenience in mind.
Our team of engineers, insurance experts, and customer service providers are committed to the health of small businesses. We think intentionally, yet move quickly. We’re moving so quickly, in fact, that we need to enlist more Pie-oneers in our small business mission. At Denver Startup Week, we hope to meet with as many talented and enthusiastic individuals as possible. We have openings to fill, benefits to share, and a piece of the pie (aka: equity) for the new Pie-oneers we welcome on board.
At Pie, we believe in caring for small businesses and investing in our team. Do you?
