Surefyre Qorus-NTT DATA Innovation in Insurance Awards 2025

Surefyre was not just another InsurTech startup—it was built out of a real-world need, driven by the frustrations of an agency that struggled with inefficiencies in the insurance quoting and underwriting process. The story begins with Custom Built Insurance (CBI), an agency founded by Gabe Torres and Shawn Gonzales that specialized in selling contract general liability (GL) policies. At the time, CBI faced a critical challenge: the insurance software market was saturated with agency management systems, yet none provided the level of automation necessary to generate quick, accurate quotes for the high volume of contractors calling in daily. The existing systems required manual processes, slow underwriting workflows, and fragmented communication between agencies, MGAs, and carriers. This made it difficult for CBI to deliver the fast service their clients demanded. Determined to find a better solution, Gabe reached out to his brother, Dustin Lorres, a skilled computer engineer, to help solve CBI’s issues with sluggish quote turnaround times from their MGA and carrier partners. Dustin built a system that introduced as much automation as possible, allowing CBI to deliver near-instant quotes to its clients. This was a game-changer for the agency. After witnessing firsthand the transformative impact of this automation on CBI’s operations, Gabe and Dustin realized that their solution addressed a widespread industry problem. The inefficiencies plaguing CBI weren’t isolated—countless MGAs and agencies faced similar challenges in obtaining fast, reliable quotes from their partners. Seeing the potential to revolutionize this aspect of insurance distribution, the brothers launched Surefyre, with a singular focus: to build an underwriting automation platform and agent portal that any MGA could use to provide instant quotes to their agency partners. As Surefyre gained traction, the company quickly recognized the need for deep industry expertise to support the unique workflows of MGAs. That’s when Alex Bautista joined as a co-founder, bringing extensive experience from Veeva, where he worked on complex SaaS implementations. Alex’s expertise proved invaluable in tailoring Surefyre’s platform to the diverse needs of MGAs, ensuring that the solution could support different lines of business with ease. His work helped transform an industry long reliant on PDFs, phone calls, and faxes—ushering in a new era of modern, cloud-based technology for insurance distribution. Surefyre was acquired by Vertafore in 2024, and continues to lead the charge in underwriting automation, providing MGAs with AI-powered solutions, and an intuitive agent portal designed to enhance efficiency and profitability. What began as a simple solution to a single agency’s problem has evolved into a platform that is reshaping the way insurance is quoted, underwritten, and bound—cementing Surefyre’s position as a product to watch in the evolving InsurTech landscape.

Surefyre is a fully configurable property and casualty (P&C) agent portal and underwriting platform designed specifically for MGAs. It streamlines the entire policy lifecycle, from rating and quoting to policy management. It also seamlessly integrates with Vertafore’s other industry-leading management solutions for MGAs, like MGA Systems and AIM, empowering MGAs with a robust, comprehensive suite of tools to drive growth, improve efficiency, and build better relationships with retail agencies.

Surefyre is an AI-powered solution with automated portal configuration and AI-driven risk selection, to help accelerate speed to market and boost profitability for MGAs. Surefyre delivers real results for MGAs, with 85% of MGAs reporting that Vertafore’s solutions improved speed to market because of the following outcomes:

• A 90% faster quoting process • 2.5 hours saved per issued policy • 99% faster form updates

Vertafore’s industry-leading customer support team is equipped to help Surefyre users with any issues they face. The customer support team consistently provides exceptional service with a 9.8 CSAT score.

Surefyre is a game-changer, empowering MGAs to scale faster and focus on profitable opportunities. For MGAs seeking to modernize and thrive in this dynamic market, Surefyre is the solution.