InsurTech funding is set to double compared to 2017
- So far this year, InsurTech deals have raised $2.5bn across 101 deals. The total amount raised in the first three quarters is 89.8% higher than last year’s total. Deals over $100m raised a record $1.4bn. The capital raised by deals in this bracket makes up 57.3% of the total amount invested. There have been five transactions above that mark so far in 2018 as opposed to three last year.
- The biggest deal was a $500m private equity round raised by Armour. The Bermuda-based company specializes in the creation and implementation of solutions, services and acquisitions within the distressed, discontinued and other specialty sectors of the global insurance and reinsurance market place.
- The second largest deal was $375m raised by New York-based company Oscar. The InsurTech company supports the health insurance industry through telemedicine, healthcare focused technological interfaces, and transparent claims pricing systems.
- So far in 2018 there have been 101 deals and deal activity is on track to be higher than last year. It is positive to see a resurgence in deal activity this year after a decline in the total number of deals from 2016 to 2017.
Global InsurTech Investment in Q3 2018 is 4.6 times higher than the same quarter last year
- Last quarter, more than $1bn was raised across 30 deals, making it the strongest quarter so far this year.
- All three quarters in 2018 so far have seen deals over $100m. In the last quarter there were three of these deals including the second largest deal of the year, as previously mentioned, raised by InsurTech company Oscar.
- There were also two deals in Q3 2018 that both raised $100m. The first was raised by ZhongAn, China’s first truly digital insurance company, in post IPO equity. The second was raised by Root Insurance in a Series D round. The car insurance company, which was recently announced in the InsurTech 100, uses technology in smartphones to measure driving behaviour such as breaking and route regularity to determine who is a safe driver. The company only insures safe drivers and so can offer more affordable rates. The funding round, led by Tiger Global Management, pushed the company’s valuation to $1 billion.
Five countries make up three quarters of all deal activity in the InsurTech subsector since 2014
- Companies based in United States have completed the most InsurTech deals. They have held 260 deals since 2014, making up 51.4% of the total deal activity. Six of the top ten deals since 2014 have been raised by companies in the United States. This includes the previously mentioned second biggest deal in 2018 with Oscar.
- In fact, four of the top ten deals since 2014 have been raised by US Company Oscar. Overall, the company has raised over $1bn so far. The company began by providing health coverage solely to residents in New York but by 2017 had expanded to markets in San Antonio, Los Angeles and Orange County in California, and San Francisco.
- Companies in the United Kingdom have had the second largest amount of deal activity; 54 deals. The only European deal in the top ten largest deals was raised by a company based in London. Gryphon Insurance raised $230m in an undisclosed round in June 2017. The startup is planning to sell life insurance in the UK.
- Singapore has the fourth highest deal activity, there has been 18 deals since 2014. The biggest deal in 2018 in was $20m raised by PolicyPal in an ICO. PolicyPal, which was recently announced in the InsurTech 100, is a digital direct insurance broker that enables individuals to buy, manage and optimise their insurance policies on one platform from a mobile app. The capital will be used to develop the PolicyPal Network, a blockchain-based insurance product ecosystem.
The 10 most active investors in the InsurTech subsector have invested in over 100 deals since 2014
- There have been 131 deals completed by the 13 most active investors which make up 9.9% of the total deal activity in the InsurTech subsector since 2014. This small percentage shows the high number of investors taking part in funding rounds for InsurTech companies.
- The most active investor in InsurTech companies has been Plug and Play. The company, which is a network startup accelerator and corporate innovation platform, has taken part in 22 funding rounds since 2014. In January this year Plug and Play took part in a $25m Series B round for Hippo Insurance. The company uses modern technology to offer simpler, smarter and cheaper home insurance.
- 500 Startups was the second most active investor in the InsurTech subsector, it has taken part in 19 funding rounds since 2014. Last year, the company invested in Valoo. Valoo, which is a digital asset management platform located in Paris helps customers to estimate, insure and manage their items online.
The data for this research was taken from the FinTech Global database. More in-depth data and analytics on investments and companies across all FinTech sectors and regions around the world are available to subscribers of FinTech Global. ©2018 FinTech Global
