Startups often conjure up images of ping pong tables frequented by scruffy developers in black jeans and Marxian t-shirts. Insurance companies are perceived to be much less hip, staffed by folks with side parts behind big wooden desks inside industrially-lit offices. But a recent trend has seen the proliferation of startups in Silicon Valley starting to shake up the insurance world.

We scoured the landscape and found the five most interesting new companies in the space, and highlighted why each is so promising.

CoverHound today announced the naming of Keith Moore to its board of directors. Moore is currently the Chief Marketing Officer at AcademixDirect, Inc., after prior roles as General Manager at LendingTree and IAC, and Senior Vice President of the 2008 IAC spinoff Tree.com.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Keith to the team. He’s an insurance industry veteran and an efficient brand marketing expert who will be a valuable asset as we seek to make the CoverHound brand synonymous with finding the right coverage at the right price,” said Basil Enan, CoverHound Founder and CEO.

CoverHound, a venture-backed San Francisco-based startup, announced today that it has established CoverHound Insurance Solutions (CIS), a national full-service independent agency that will help power its flagship comparison product launching in January. CoverHound’s new service will give consumers instant, accurate and actionable rates from leading car insurance carriers.

An infographic released by CoverHound connects the dots on the mergers and acquisitions in car insurance world since the first American policy was written back in 1898.

The infographic shows consolidation in the industry over the last 25 years as much larger corporations have folded smaller companies into their portfolios in order to include car insurance in their offerings to consumers.

CoverHound adds to momentum with key hires. Welcome Josh, Keith and Jeff!

One year after launching, car insurance comparison service raises $750k from San Francisco-based venture firm to accelerate growth and expand team.

This article originally appeared in Vator News

Two months after the AngelPad Winter 2011 startups made their spring demo day debuts, one of those companies is finally announcing funding.