Nationwide Invests in Online Business Financing Startup BlueVine

Nationwide said it is making a new venture-capital investment in BlueVine, a provider of online working capital financing for small- and medium-sized businesses.

The BlueVine announcement is part of Nationwide’s commitment to invest more than $100 million of venture capital in customer-centric solutions.

The company did not disclose the amount of its investment in BlueVine.

BlueVine offers financing in the form of lines of credit and invoice factoring.

In June, BlueVine closed on $60 million in equity funding led by Menlo Ventures. Citi Ventures is also an investor.

Erik Ross, head of Nationwide’s venture capital team, said the investment makes sense for the nation’s biggest insurer of small businesses. “This investment aligns with our mission to help business owners protect what’s most important and plan for a secure financial future,” he said.

In addition to BlueVine, Nationwide’s venture capital arm has also made investments in startups including blooom, Nexar, Sure, Matic and Betterview— all focused on insurance and financial planning.

Nationwide said it continues to look for partnerships with big and small companies to drive innovation together.