Carousel Capital has teamed up with Lamp Post Group to invest in Reliance Partners, a commercial insurance broker catering to the transportation industry.

Financial terms were not disclosed by the companies.

This partnership was funded with equity from the sixth fund of Carousel Capital. 

Apogem Capital has provided senior debt financing.

Chattanooga-based venture incubator Lamp Post Group invested in Reliance Partners earlier to the investment from Carousel and will continue to remain as investor, reported PEHub.

Set up in 2009 and based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Reliance has almost $500m in gross written premiums. 

Offering commercial transportation risk management solutions, the company is claimed to have a deep domain expertise, customer-centric sales approach and innovative technology.

Reliance Partners offers access to a complete suite of insurance solutions to more than 8,000 truck fleets and freight brokerage customers across the US.

The company claims to have a diverse employee base with more than 25 nationalities represented and 30 languages spoken, enabling it to better cater to a diverse network of transportation customers. 

Reliance CEO Andrew Ladebauche said: “We chose Carousel because of their partnership approach, our alignment on strategy for growth, and their ability to help us achieve our goal of reaching $1+ billion in premiums in the next three years.”  

Carousel Capital partner Al Welch said: “We were drawn to this partnership due to the strength of the team, their unparalleled track record of organic growth, differentiated sales strategy, and customer-centric focus.  Reliance is the leading domain expert in transportation risk management in the US, and is uniquely positioned within a very large and fragmented market.  We are thrilled to partner with management and help the Company accelerate and achieve its growth objectives.”

Carousel Capital managing partner Jason Schmidly said: “The opportunity with Reliance and management intersects so well with our past experience in insurance services, insurtech, and transportation. 

“This partnership represents our continued belief in an underlying theme in insurance services – technological innovation drives efficiency and facilitates a better experience for all stakeholders.”

Lamp Post Group co-founder Ted Alling said: “We are beyond proud of the Reliance team and what they have accomplished over the course of our partnership and are excited to continue as investors to support the business.”

K&L Gates acted as legal advisor to Carousel, while Bradley acted as legal advisor to Reliance.