News at Benefix

The nine companies, including Harrisburg-based Intag and Carlisle-based Crimewatch Technologies, haves been selected as finalists for the "Rise of the Rest" $100,000 pitch competition that will take place at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center on October 10.

The idea for Lancaster native Matthew Ranauro’s latest software company came from his move back to this area. The 37-year-old Manheim Township resident brought his business with him from Colorado about a year and a half ago, and had such a terrible time switching its health insurance coverage that he asked a broker buddy about it. That’s when he learned that there’s no centralized system for health insurance quotes, so brokers have to separately enter a company’s information into each carrier’s website — a tedious, time-consuming process.

A four-minute speech is potentially all that separates four Lancaster startups from a $100,000 investment from AOL co-founder Steve Case.

BeneFix founder Matt Ranauro, left, and sales manager Lee Shand will present their product at an insurance technology conference in San Francisco this week. BeneFix provides quoting software to the health insurance industry.

Here's a roundup of recent hirings and promotions of management-level employees who live or work in Lancaster County.

Four Lancaster companies are among nine central Pennsylvania finalists that will compete for a $100,000 investment in AOL co-founder Steve Case’s “Rise of the Rest” initiative.

Matthew Bloom is president and CEO of Crimewatch Technologies Inc., an information-sharing and intelligence-gathering network for law enforcement. He will be among nine entrepreneurs making a pitch to AOL founder Steve Case for $100,000 in funding when Case visits the midstate in October.

It’s Friday night and the Horse Inn is packed. There’s a wait for a table in the main dining room and the front bar is filled with pairs of diners and drinkers sipping on craft cocktails — perhaps a “Call to Arms” (Rittenhouse rye, Zaya rum, ruby port, boiled cider, pressed lime, Angostura) or a Doctor’s Orders (Market Alley gin, house tonic, basil, cardamom, grapefruit water) — and local craft beer.

Two recently launched small businesses based in Lancaster have received unsecured loans from the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA.

In one year BeneFix has tripled their number of employees, finaled in the Rise of the Rest competition, expanded their footprint to four states, added over 300,000 people to their platform and closed a $2 million VC led seed round. When in comes to BeneFix, 2017 proved that there’s something to this “insurtech” thing.