Inside Slide's $100M Series A raise

Bruce Lucas sees insurance as a fine wine.

• Both are age-old industries that can be vastly improved with modern technology.

State of play: As a wine aficionado, he uses the latest tech to aerate wine fast for the best drinking experience. And as the CEO of Slide, he uses the it to get people insurance fast.

• Last month, Lucas closed out a $100 million Series A round for the full-stack homeowners insurtech company — dubbed one of the biggest fundraising hauls in Tampa Bay.
• Slide is launching in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and South Carolina in early 2022 and is planning for more states later in the year, Lucas tells Axios.

Why it matters: While Florida is seeing its highest spikes ever in homeowner insurance rates, Lucas wants consumers to be able to curate their insurance plans with Slide instead of buying coverage in bundles and spending on coverage they don't need.

The secret weapon: Lucas says Slide is backed by $2.7 trillion in total insured value and claims data thanks to a partnership with Heritage, the insurance company he founded in 2012 and left last year to start Slide.

• "There isn't another homeowner insurtech remotely in our hemisphere," he says. "The data will tell you the true story."

What he's saying: "I am the ultimate industry insider. I know how traditional insurance works from cradle to grave. I know every tiny micro issue that takes place within the insurance industry.

• "Having that type of track record allows me to have a vision of how to change it all."