Avanta Ventures, the venture capital arm of CSAA Insurance Group, has unveiled a $225m early-stage fund II, bringing its assets under management to over $300m.
Avanta Ventures’ primary investment sectors are InsurTech, mobility, and risk-adjacent sectors such as FinTech, cybersecurity, smart home, and applied artificial intelligence.
Prioritising innovative business models that attract emerging customer segments, Avanta Ventures invests $1m-$10m in early-stage companies at the seed, Series A and Series B stages, with the ability to lead deals, while also reserving significant capital for follow-on investment to continue to support its portfolio.
Sanjiv Parikh, managing partner of Avanta Ventures, said, “We’re looking to connect with new and aspiring companies that have built a differentiated product…We’re ready to talk with promising startups where we can add value and help them progress to their next stages, driving growth for the portfolio company and for CSAA.”
Avanta Ventures’ investment team brings over 50 years of combined venture capital and entrepreneurial operating experience.
Parikh, as well as Avanta Ventures partner Steve Bernardez, have been repeatedly included on the annual Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist of the top 100 corporate venture groups worldwide.
Additionally, Avanta Ventures team members David Li and Pooja Shah have been named two of this year’s Global Corporate Venturing Top 50 Rising Stars, selected from almost 20,000 industry professionals.
Avanta Ventures’ Fund I was a $75m fund in 2017 focusing on early-stage companies in the Seed and Series A stages.
Debbie Brackeen, chief strategy and innovation officer, CSAA Insurance Group, said, “When we founded Avanta Ventures in 2017, I envisioned a venture arm that would leverage the external startup ecosystem to amplify CSAA’s innovation strategy and capabilities.
“Avanta Ventures has allowed us to invest in companies where we add unique value via partnership engagement with CSAA’s product, operations, marketing and distribution units.”
Earlier this year, Kin Insurance, a direct-to-consumer home insurance company, raised $82m in Series D funding. Avanta Ventures participated in the round.
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