← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Zywave

“Can a 30-year-old insurance-broker software incumbent turn its proprietary distribution data into the default AI system-of-action layer for the front office of insurance?”

Founded1995
HQMilwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Total raisedundisclosed (PE-backed)
Latest roundAcquired by Clearlake Capital, 2020
Valuationundisclosed
IndustryVertical SaaS / Insurance
The story

Zywave was born inside a Milwaukee insurance brokerage in 1995, spun out as an independent SaaS company, and grew through acquisition into the dominant front-office software stack for US insurance brokers, MGAs, and agencies. Under Aurora Capital and then Clearlake Capital (2020), Zywave has consolidated agency management, quoting, content, and compliance products into a single portfolio. The 2026 launch of Zywave Apex marks a pivot toward becoming the AI system-of-action layer for insurance distribution, deliberately positioning MCP over ready-made LLMs (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini) rather than building its own foundation models.

Last 12 months
2026-08
2026-05
2026
Product timeline
1995
Founded within Frank F. Haack & Associates insurance brokerage in Milwaukee; software built as broker customer-service tool· founding
2010
Acquisitions expand into personal financial planning software (largest US market share post-acquisitions)· acquisition
2020
Clearlake Capital acquires Zywave from Aurora Capital Partners as a buy-and-build platform investment· acquisition
2026
Launches Zywave Apex — AI platform for insurance distribution (Apex MCP, Producer Agent, Advisor Agent)· pivot
Acquisitions
ClarionDoor
Rating, quoting, and connectivity platform for insurance carriers and MGAs — now offered as a Zywave product line
miEdge
Insurance prospect database used across Zywave's broker and MGA solutions
Agency Matrix
Agency management system for insurance brokers, now part of Zywave portfolio
ITC (Insurance Technologies Corporation) / TurboRater
Personal lines comparative rater; ITC-branded invoices still referenced in Zywave billing
WCL (Web Connectivity Limited)
London Market connectivity platform for accounting/placing/claims data standardization; now a Zywave Inc. affiliate
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Zywave’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Fiserv
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
5 more providers across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.