The buy now, pay later BNPL market is expected to hit $680B in transaction value by 2025. The meteoric increase in e-commerce purchases exacerbated by the pandemic fueled much of the recent growth. With digital adoption permeating into other industries, BNPL solutions are following. Ascend is an end-to-end payments platform for insurance payments that allows insurance businesses to offer flexible payment solutions to their customers. The company offers payment APIs and a no-code platform that’s easily embedded by insurance sellers into their existing tech stacks to automate the entire checkout and post-checkout experience. Ascend handles commission distributions as well as carrier payments. The company’s platform is in use in all 50 states, servicing customers like Vouch, Cowbell, Newfront, Boost Insurance, NFP, LuckyTruck, Rogue Risk, Portal Insurance, and Riskwell. AlleyWatch caught up with Ascend Cofounder Andrew Wynn to learn more about the inspiration for the business, how Ascend is modernizing the insurance checkout and payment experience, the company’s strategic plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Index Ventures, NFP, HSCM Bermuda, XYZ Ventures, First Round Capital, Susa Ventures, and FirstMark Capital.