W.R. Berkley Corp., State Auto Insurance and other industry stalwarts joined a new $8.5 million investment round for Champ Titles, a startup that digitizes the process of vehicle titling.

Berkley and EOS Venture Partners led the financing – a Series A round for the Ohio-based company. Other investors beyond State Auto also included Ally Ventures, Guidewire Software Inc., Westerly Ventures, Sadie Ventures, A100X Ventures and XBTO Humla Ventures.

To date, Champ Titles has raised more than $17.5 million.

Plans call for using the money to accelerate the company’s U.S. rollout, Champ Titles CEO Shane Bigelow said in prepared remarks.

“We are honored to receive investments from such accomplished institutional and strategic investors,” Bigelow added.

Champ Titles describes current vehicle title creation, management and transfer – when a car is acquired or changes hands – as a cumbersome, paper-based process with different laws and practices in each U.S. state, creating significant complexity.

The startup said that the current process creates unnecessary costs for everyone involved in that process, from citizens, to retailers, lenders, insurance companies, and state governments.

Champ Titles said its products are designed for insurance carriers, automotive retailers, lenders, state governments, and others. Products currently in production include Digital Total Loss, which allows insurance carriers to more quickly acquire and dispose of vehicles in instances of total loss by digitizing the process from owner engagement to title application submission, reducing cycle times significantly. There’s also DMV SaaS, which gives state agencies the ability to modernize their title and registration systems, providing significant benefits to all users of these upgraded systems.

Champ Titles launched in 2018.

Source: Champ Titles