Insurance broker NFP is launching a new venture fund to invest in InsurTech, FinTech and HR Tech companies.
Shawn Ellis, who has previously worked at Zest Health and 7wire Ventures, has joined NFP as managing director of venture and innovation to oversee the vehicle’s development, investment and operations.
This vehicle launch coincides with the creating on NFP’s Innovation Lab, which will look to support the fund with market research. The global insurance broker hopes to provide its clients with education and services to cope with changing technology, regulations and marketplace dynamics.
NFP president and COO Mike Goldman said, “The insurance industry is undergoing a series of profound technological changes, particularly with intelligent automation and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which are used to better respond to customer needs, risk and compliance threats, and superior process efficiencies.”
There has been a string of investments in the InsurTech space over the past couple of weeks. Earlier in the week, website and agency marketing software developer Insurance Technologies Corporation picked up an undisclosed investment from Accel-KKR. Another recent deal in the sector was online health insurance platform Oscar Health’s $165m funding round.
Last year, InsurTech funding gained traction seeing $2bn invested globally, a 24 per cent increase on the levels in 2016, according to data by FinTech Global. While the investment volume was down from 2015, this was due to a colossal $937m investment in to Chinese online insurer $937m in 2015.
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