Insurance & Insurtech Investment News – September 2022
While 2022 hasn’t hit the heights of yesteryear, we can still report a flurry of activity despite the Summer slowdown and the insurance conference season having reached its peak. The biggest moves were unsurprisingly made in the US with commercial insurer Pie taking home the jackpot of over $300 million. Asia also saw some big moves to keep up and Africa and LatAm consistently prove that they’re not markets to be ignored. Happy reading!
Global Headlines
Europe
- The market’s not looking so Stubben now
- There’s another app to get you feeling Peachy
- Optalix gets Calculus’ backing to help insurers turn spreadsheets into systems
- Earlybird is back at it with a fresh raise for Ottonova
- DoxyChain gets 2 million cash injection to shake up document management
- Crowdfunded Paper starts to make its move
North America
- John Swigart’s Pie is getting bigger with another raise
- Bamboo will accelerate growth with the help of Eos
- Insurers have another ways to tackle ESG with Federato
- No rest for the wicked as Insurance Lounge gets off the couch
- Blockchain’s answer to Lloyd’s is hitting the re-insurance market
- Group of investors breathes more life into PolicyMe
- CoverTree gets $10 million seed boost
- Stere hopes to go in the right direction with $5 million in the bank
- iCover hopes to give life insurance underwriters a helping hand
Asia Pacific
- Carrot eyes unicorn status in Korea
- Creaegis leads $75 million round for Zopper
- YAS Microinsurance queens finalise pre-Series A
- Koba gets crowdfunding to boost UBI product
Middle East & Africa
- More distribution disruption in Kenya as Turaco gets Series A
Central & Latin America
- Pier-less insurance company has solid foundations to build on
Europe
The market’s not looking so Stubben now
Distribution disruptor Stubben Edge has raised £5.6 million amid further plans to engage in M&A very soon. Notable investors included Lloyd’s and Dowgate Wealth. “In the context of declining confidence in the fintech market and the wider economic climate, this is a huge deal and testament to the strength of the business,” said Chris Kenning, CEO of Stubben Edge. “Our ambition continues to be to support the entrepreneurs and owners of brokers and independent financial advisors. Helping them build their businesses by providing the technology, data and products that will enable them to service their SME clients more efficiently, cost-effectively, wherever, and whenever their clients want to engage. Our ambition is to change the financial services industry, which is currently antiquated, arbitrary and unbalanced, empowering brokers and IFAs to provide better value for money, security and confidence for customers and their families, while building long-term business success.”
Source: Insurance Business Mag
There’s another app to get you feeling Peachy
Peachy, a health app founded by former NHS surgeon and senior Bupa exec, Amit Patel, has raised $1.6 million in seed funding. Now accepted into the FCA “Sandbox” programme, the company will hel customers buy and manage health insurance without a yearly commitment. ‘We are proud of what we have built with Peachy – a true end-to-end technology-based solution that private medical insurance has been in desperate need of for years,’ said Patel. ‘More than anything, we are excited about the much larger cross section of the public who will now find it radically easier and more affordable to get the private healthcare they want, all of which will help ease the strain on the NHS.’
Source: Laing Buisson News
Optalitix gets Calculus’ backing to help insurers turn spreadsheets into systems
London’s Optalitix, a SaaS platform which provides a low-code solution to insurers has raised £4 million led by Calculus Capital. Currently with two primary features, Opalitix Models and Optalitix Quote, the company will be expanding its team and develop its customer base which currently includes Vitality Health, GoCompare, Lloyd’s of London and United Trust Bank.
Source: The SaaS News
Earlybird is back at it with a fresh raise for Ottonova
Earlybird has pumped funds into Ottonova which has raised forty million euros in its latest funding round. Already partnered up with Getsafe, Ottonova will look to forge more relationships to further expand. “Interest in white-label technology for the health insurance sector is extremely high,” said Jesko David Kannenberg, Ottonova’s board member for sales and marketing.
Source: Start Base
DoxyChain gets 2 million cash injection to shake up document management
Polish start-up DoxyChain, which is looking to disrupt the document management space has raised 2.2 million euros. Level2 Ventures, founded by Adam Rudowski and Piotr Pawlowski led the round. CTO Piotr Zelazko said, “We are now launching two new SaaS features. Working on our SaaS layer, we have observed that the scope of the use-cases is so broad that we cannot cover them all one by one. Instead, we can do better: we can build a modular infrastructure that allows our clients to develop their own tailored advanced workflows and use cases on top of it. Such an infrastructure will be our Seed milestone.”
Source: EU Startups
Crowdfunded Paper starts to make its move
Paper has rallied 102 investors in a crowdfunding campaign worth over £152,000, giving it a pre-money valuation of over £3 million. Another distribution disruptor, the company digitises the selling process for agents and brokers.
Source: Fintech Global
North America
John Swigart’s Pie is getting bigger with another raise
Workers’ comp insurtech Pie Insurance has been hard at work raising a $315 million Series D. The round, which takes the company’s total raised to $615 million was led by Allianz X and Centerbridge Partners who were joined by White Mountains Insurance Group as a new partner with old hats Gallatin Point Capital, Greycroft and Acrew Capital also taking part.
Pie CEO John Swigart said, “This round of financing is monumental in more ways than one. It’s no secret that growth-stage startups, and specifically insurtechs, are facing a challenging fundraising environment. However, Pie’s ability to grow rapidly while still focusing on delivering strong unit economics and sustainable loss ratios, is proving to be a key differentiator. Pie is disrupting the highly fragmented small business commercial insurance market through our proprietary technology which more accurately prices and underwrites insurance risks. We believe the insurtech 2.0 phase of this industry-wide transformation will be built by companies like Pie that leverage their technology to ‘do the insurance better’ and deliver superior traditional insurance metrics along with a delightful customer experience.”
Source: PR Newswire
Bamboo will accelerate growth with the help of Eos
California-based Bamboo plans to grow further with backing from specialist insurtech VC Eos Venture Parnters. The $16 million Series A round will help the company grow further in California while building out a location in Bermuda to serve the insurance market. John Chu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bamboo, said, “The completion of our Series A round marks an exciting inflection point for Bamboo. After successfully refining our underwriting model and distribution capabilities over the past 3 years in the California market, Bamboo will now embark on a product and geographic expansion plan while remaining true to our profitable underwriting philosophy.”
Source: FF News
Insurers have another way to tackle ESG with Federato
Emergence Capital has led a Series A round worth $15 million for Federato, a platform that helps insurers visualise risk and manage policy portfolios. Founded by AI and climate experts, Will Ross and William Steenbergen, the company is looking to tackle risks such as climate-related increases in natural disasters, loss uncertainty in insurance risks, and payout inflation.
Source: Tech Crunch
No rest for the wicked as Insurance Lounge gets off the couch
Insurance Lounge, a hybrid insurance agency that offers both in-store and digital experiences for customers, has raised $15 million with the help of a consortium led by Brian Modesitt and Alta Point Capital. Founder Michael DeLaGrange said, “As a second-generation agency owner, I kept seeing consumers confused and frustrated by the insurance buying experience. I envisioned a new model where buying insurance could be enjoyable, simple and convenient. Insurance Lounge is the culmination of that vision. I am excited to work with this new investor group to achieve the goal of Insurance Lounge’s unique consumer-centric approach.”
Source: Yahoo Finance
Blockchain’s answer to Lloyd’s is hitting the Re-insurance market
Blockchain-powered Re has raised $14 million in seed funding led by Tribe Capital, Defy and Exor among others. CEO Karn Saroya, also CEO of established insurtech player Cover, plans to build a Lloyd’s-esque platform that “settles any kind of insurance risk in a way that’s transparent to regulators, partners and investors”. Re has also announced that David Hampson, former CEO of Willis Programs – part of Willis Group Holdings – has joined the company as a strategic advisor and independent board member.
Source: Coin Desk
Group of investors breathes more life into PolicyMe
Canada’s PolicyMe has announced a Series A financing round of $18 million CAD. Previous investors HCS Capital and Westdale Properties were joined by RGAX, Securian Financial and Siriuspoint to secure the latest cash injection for the life insurance platform. “Our proprietary technology allows us to automate many aspects of the life insurance value chain while still staying close to the customer and personalizing their experience,” said Andrew Ostro, CEO of PolicyMe. “As a result, we believe we have built the best term life insurance platform in Canada, and are excited to continue pushing the industry forward with our innovative products, strong partnerships, and new distribution channels.”
Source: Businesswire
CoverTree gets $10 million seed boost
Detroit’s CoverTree has raised $10 million in seed funding led by AV8 Ventures and Distributed Ventures who were joined by Detroit Venture Partners, Ludlow Ventures and Annox Capital. CEO Adarsh Rachmale plans to expand the team and improve the company’s technology platform including augmenting distribution and underwriting.
Source: FinSMEs
Stere hopes to go in the right direction with $5 million in the bank
Stere has backed up their $2 million funding round from the end of 2021 with another raise, this time getting $5 million in a round led by Vida Capital. Speaking about the new investment and the opportunities it presents, Stere CEO and Founder Dogan Kaleli, said, “Vida Capital brings a tremendous amount of expertise in reinsurance, ILS, and structured solutions, which supports Stere’s vision of building a trading forum of all kinds of capacity in a one-stop-shop. Vida’s funding will fuel further expansion of our trading platform, allowing us to continue creating the smart tech-driven solutions that our stakeholders have come to rely on to help support and grow their businesses.”
Source: Insurtech Digital
iCover hopes to give life insurance underwriters a helping hand
Missouri-based iCover, an augmented underwriting platform for life insurers, has received a boost of $5 million in pre-seed funding led by Kesan Parasuraman – a private investor who also led their previous raise. iCover are looking to expand their product lines which include: income protection, final expense, term and whole life. “In terms of traction and momentum, 2022 has been a great year so far. Fast and accurate Point-of-Sale underwriting has become more relevant than ever before. With this capital infusion, we can fuel our sales and marketing efforts through 2023 and expand iCover’s Intellectual Property with increased R&D in the areas of AI and Blockchain,” said Hari Srinivasan, Founder & CEO for iCover.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Asia Pacific
Carrot eyes unicorn status in Korea
Affirma Capital has taken Carrot General Insurance to new highs, leading a $250 million raise for the digital motor insurer. The first batch of funding worth $145 million was finalised last week with the remaining $105 million to come via an extended round during the last quarter of 2022. Richard Moon, the recently named new CEO of Carrot said, “I am delighted to welcome our new investors and thank our existing shareholders for their continued support and confidence in Carrot. We have made very significant milestone while keeping the J-curve growth at even a faster pace, which I believe is driven by surging demand for simple and innovative insurance products to meet evolving customer needs in today’s world.” He continued, “Our big focus will be on agile and open innovation, which will speed up product development and technological innovation to fast-forward the future of insurance.”
Source: PR Newswire
Creaegis leads $75 million round for Zopper
Following on from last month’s announcement that India will soon have its next insurtech unicorn, commercial insurer Zopper has announced that it has raised $75 million in its latest Series C raise led by Creaegis, bringing its total funding to $96 million. “If you look at the penetration of insurance in India today, it’s just 3 to 4%,” said Surjendu Kuila, founder and chief executive of Zopper, in an interview. “If you’re trying to bring new people to the fold of insurance, you just cannot sell them schemes that are priced above $37 to $50 a year.”
Source: Tech Crunch
YAS Microinsurance queens finalise pre-Series A
More news in the blockchain space as YAS Microinsurance has completed $4.5 million in Pre-Series A funding. Led by Noria Capital, the round will help move the needle for blockchain solutions. Co-founder, William Lee, said “We are on track with our goal to achieve our vision of how future insurance works – autonomous insurance on-chain, as we transition from the old web2 world into a more interconnected world, with web3”.
Source: Fintech News
Koba gets crowdfunding to boost UBI product
UBI player Koba has crowdfunded $547,000 having opened its funding round in July of this year in partnership with Birchal. The insurtech allows customers to pay a standard rate to insure their care while parked and following that, only pay for the distance they drive. “This is our second raise, and once again, we’re being overwhelmed by the support and grateful to our new shareholders,” said KOBA founder Andrew Wong, adding that this funding round aims to help scale awareness of its pay-per-km car insurance among early adopters, build partnerships with car manufacturers to offer connected insurance, continue evolving the app experience, and build new data-driven insurance products.
Source: Insurance Business Mag
Middle East & Africa
More distribution in Kenya as Turaco gets Series A
Kenyan start-up, Turaco, has continued Africa’s innovation boom locking in $10 million via AfricInvest and Novastar Ventures to expand further via partnerships. Acting as a platform between customer and underwriter, its B2B and B2B2C model has seen the company build relationships with Sun King, One Acre Fund, Tugende, M-KOPA and VisionFund. “We are proud to help drive insurance adoption, especially among low-income earners. 90 per cent of our customers have never had insurance before, but the surprising thing is that people really want to buy insurance! They just don’t have easy access to products that really work for them. This investment enables us to scale our business to serve millions of insurance customers across our current markets and beyond. We are thrilled to have these great new investors join our team for this next season of growth,” said Turaco CEO and co-founder Ted Pantone.
Source: Disrupt Africa
Central & Latin America
Pier-less insurance company has solid foundations to build on
Pier Seguradora has raised $20 million in a round led by Raiz Investimentos and aided by Pinheiro Neto Advogados and Gunderson Dettmer. Focusing on distributing to the personal P&C market they are hoping for further expansion having previoiusly raised $14.5 million in its Series A.
Source: Fintech Global