Ventures Analyst

State Farm•Bloomington, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Ventures Analyst provides critical research, financial analysis, market intelligence, and strategic insights to support the State Farm Ventures leadership team. This role assists in identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing potential investment opportunities, strategic partnerships, and emerging technology trends aligned with State Farm’s innovation priorities. The analyst will support investment diligence, market and competitive analysis, financial modeling, startup evaluation, and executive-level reporting. The role requires strong analytical judgment, comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to translate complex data and market signals into clear recommendations for senior stakeholders.

Requirements

Strong analytical and research skills, with experience in market research, financial analysis, competitive analysis, and business case development.
Ability to evaluate companies, markets, business models, and emerging technologies using both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Proficiency with Excel or similar tools for financial modeling, data analysis, scenario analysis, and valuation support.
Ability to synthesize complex information into concise, executive-ready insights and recommendations.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare clear presentations, memos, and leadership updates.
Solid understanding of technology trends, startup ecosystems, venture capital, business processes, and enterprise innovation.
Demonstrated project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders.
Excellent relationship-building and networking abilities across internal and external stakeholders.
Strong judgment, intellectual curiosity, and comfort working with ambiguity.
Ability to identify key risks, assumptions, tradeoffs, and open questions in early-stage opportunities.
Proficiency with data analytics, research, presentation, and productivity tools.
Curiosity and eagerness to learn about emerging technologies, startups, insurance, and corporate venture capital.
Qualified candidates must live or relocate within a 180-mile radius of a hub location listed below and should plan to spend time working from home and some time working in the office as part of our hybrid work environment.
Applicants for this position are required to be eligible to lawfully work in the U.S. immediately; employer will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work authorization (e.g. H-1B visa) for this opportunity.

Nice To Haves

Experience in venture capital, corporate venture capital, investment banking, consulting, corporate strategy, innovation, or startup operations.
Familiarity with insurance, financial services, fintech, insurtech, AI, climate resilience, mobility, or enterprise software.
Experience preparing market maps, investment memos, diligence summaries, financial models, or executive presentations.
Experience using AI tools, market intelligence platforms, startup databases, or data visualization tools to support research and analysis.
Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, engineering, data analytics, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Conduct market research, competitive analysis, and industry mapping to identify emerging technologies, market trends, and potential investment opportunities.
Build and maintain market maps, company landscapes, investment theses, and thematic research across priority areas relevant to State Farm.
Support evaluation of potential investments by analyzing business models, market size, competitive positioning, traction, financial performance, unit economics, valuation, and strategic fit.
Develop financial models, valuation analyses, scenario analyses, and investment summaries to support diligence and decision-making.
Analyze startup pitch materials, financial data, customer traction, fundraising history, and comparable companies to assess investment attractiveness.
Synthesize internal and external data sources into clear insights, recommendations, and executive-ready materials.
Monitor industry developments related to insurance, financial services, AI, climate resilience, mobility, claims, underwriting, fraud, customer experience, and emerging enterprise technologies.
Build a strong understanding of State Farm’s business areas, strategic priorities, operational pain points, and customer needs.
Assess how emerging technologies and startups could address business problems, create strategic value, reduce risk, improve efficiency, or unlock new capabilities.
Translate market trends and startup activity into actionable insights for State Farm Ventures and internal business partners.
Support strategic forecasting by identifying technology shifts, competitive threats, investment themes, and opportunities for innovation.
Develop business cases for potential pilots, partnerships, and investment opportunities, including expected impact, risks, assumptions, and success metrics.
Develop and maintain strategic relationships across Innovation, business units, external venture capital firms, startups, accelerators, incubators, universities, and technology vendors.
Support sourcing and evaluation of startups through ecosystem engagement, market research, referrals, and thematic scouting.
Represent State Farm within the startup and innovation ecosystems in a professional manner, helping identify opportunities for collaboration, investment, or strategic partnership.
Coordinate with internal stakeholders to understand business needs and assess whether startup solutions are relevant, feasible, and actionable.
Lead or contribute to complex deliverables, including market scans, investment memos, diligence summaries, business cases, leadership updates, and board reporting materials.
Coordinate content development and delivery of executive and board-level reporting to ensure timely, accurate, and insight-driven updates.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Scouting, Innovation teams, business units, finance, legal, technology, and enterprise risk partners.
Manage competing priorities across research, diligence, reporting, and stakeholder requests while maintaining quality and responsiveness.
Champion effective team processes, documentation, and analytical rigor to improve efficiency, consistency, and decision quality.