Built by someone who sat next to agents and watched them work.
HarborIQ started over lunch with an independent agency’s leadership team. They showed us what quoting actually looks like. We’ve been building the solution ever since.
The conversation
Andy Sertler runs an independent insurance agency in the Chicago suburbs. Over lunch one day, he pulled out his laptop and showed what quoting actually looks like.
The problem
Open Progressive. Type in the customer’s name, address, DOB, vehicle info. Get a quote. Now open Geico. Type it all again. Now Travelers. Same data, different forms, different terminology. Two hours later, three quotes for one customer. Then there’s the prospect from last month who said “call me in six months.” They fell through the cracks. No pipeline. No follow-up system. Just sticky notes and good intentions.
The insight
Andy said: “If someone built a tool that did pipeline tracking, quoting automation, and social media posts for me, I’d pay for it today.” That conversation is where HarborIQ started. The gap was clear: every tool in the market did one piece. Nobody was building the full operating system.
The solution
It needed someone who’d seen enterprise-grade tools up close but knew how to build for a 5-person office where every dollar has to earn its place. Every feature in HarborIQ comes from watching agents work and listening to what they actually need. Not what a software company thinks they should need.
The name
Why "Harbor"
A harbor isn’t just a place to park a boat. It’s where ships come in from open water to find shelter, get resupplied, and set out again stronger. That’s what an independent agency is for its clients: the safe port between life’s risks. And it’s what HarborIQ is for the agency itself: the protected, organized home base that keeps the chaos of the open market manageable. We didn’t pick the name because it sounded nice. We picked it because it’s the job.
Why "IQ"
Intelligence is built into the foundation, not bolted on as a feature. HarborIQ doesn’t “use AI.” It thinks. It knows which fields map to each other across carriers, even when the terminology doesn’t match. It knows which prospects are going stale and which quotes are about to expire. That’s the IQ: real intelligence woven into every workflow so your team is always one step ahead.
Our beliefs
Small business owners are the backbone of the economy. We want to elevate them.
Independent agents deserve tools as good as what captive carriers give their agents.
AI should make agents smarter and faster, not replace them.
Software should be built around how people actually work, not how process diagrams say they should.
The best product is the one that disappears into the workflow.
Domain expertise isn’t optional. You can’t build insurance software without knowing how carriers actually structure their forms and what agents deal with every day.
Team
Justin Mayer
Founder | CEO
Product builder who’s worked inside Fortune 500 companies and built from scratch as a founder. Knows what enterprise-grade looks like and builds it without the enterprise price tag. Started HarborIQ after watching agents spend two hours doing what should take twenty minutes.
Design Partner
Sertler & Associates
Chicagoland, IL
Our founding design partner. Andy and Alex have shaped every feature in HarborIQ through real-world feedback from their agency in the Chicago suburbs.
Ready to stop drowning in tabs?
Reserve your founding spot for $100. Fully refundable before launch.