Overview
Bold Penguin is a commercial insurance technology platform that simplifies and accelerates the distribution of small and middle market commercial insurance. Founded in 2016 by Ilya Bodner and Ben Clarke, the company built an exchange connecting small businesses, insurance agencies, and insurers through real-time, programmatic quoting and binding capabilities.
In January 2021, Bold Penguin was acquired by American Family Insurance Mutual Holding Co. and now operates as a subsidiary while maintaining operational independence and market neutrality. In October 2025, Bold Penguin acquired SquareRisk, a digital wholesale marketplace, to expand its capabilities into the excess and surplus (E&S) and specialty insurance markets.
The platform powers distribution for 8 of the top 10 commercial carriers and has facilitated over 8 million cumulative quote applications and USD 20.3B+ in small commercial new business premium quoted.
Products & Services
Terminal
A small business insurance quoting platform that enables algorithmic matching of risks to carriers, reducing the time agents spend sourcing and comparing small commercial coverage by up to 84%.
Key Features
- Universal application enabling simultaneous quoting and binding with multiple carriers
- Real-time eligibility checking and appetite search
- Bold Reports analytics and market intelligence
- Smart Document Upload acceleration
- Access to 100+ available carrier products
Target Users: Independent agents, brokers, wholesalers
Exchange
The largest prospect marketplace for commercial insurance leads, enabling agents to monetize out-of-appetite prospects and access prescreened leads.
Key Features
- Customizable prospect filters
- Pre-screened warm phone transfers
- Lead monetization for out-of-appetite business
Target Users: Commercial insurance agents and carriers seeking growth through lead diversification
Storefront
A digital-first customer engagement platform for insurance agencies and channel partners.
Key Features
- Storefront Pro: direct-to-consumer quoting with customizable e-commerce experience
- Lead submission capability to the Exchange
- Customizable branding and multi-carrier quoting
Target Users: Channel partners, agents, brokers, financial institutions, fintechs
Analytics
A data extraction and enrichment tool for carriers and MGAs focused on underwriting process optimization and AI-driven submissions.
Key Features
- Clause-to-data conversion
- Cognitive human-in-loop processing
- Prebuilt document extractors and enrichment
- Submission triangulation tools
Target Users: Carriers, MGAs, MGUs
SubmissionLink
Handles complex, multiproduct risk submissions across the full commercial insurance spectrum, from micromonoline risks to complex middle-market cases.
Key Features
- Universal submission across carrier and MGA systems
- Supports micromonoline through complex middle-market risks
- API-first integration architecture
Target Users: Agents and brokers handling middle market commercial risks
SquareRisk (acquired 2025)
A digital wholesale marketplace connecting retail brokers to specialty insurance carriers and MGAs across the E&S market.
Key Features
- Discovers, quotes, and binds specialty MGA products across 45+ carriers through a single interface
- Covers complex business classifications including contractors, transportation, hospitality, and manufacturing
- Enables placement of hard-to-place, non-admitted risks
Target Users: Retail brokers placing E&S and specialty risks
At a Glance
- Founded
- 2016
- Headquarters
- Dublin, OH, USA
- Employees
- 201-500
- Funding
- Acquired
Category & Focus
- Category
- Distribution & Sales
- Subcategories
- Commercial insurance quoting digital wholesale leads marketplace agent enablement
- Insurance Verticals
- P&C Commercial Specialty/E&S
- Target Customers
- Agents/Agencies, Carriers, MGAs/MGUs, Brokers
Customers
- 8 of the top 10 commercial carriers (distribution partners)
- Independent and exclusive agents across the US
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Last updated: 2026-04-09