- Next Insurance announced a $250 million new funding round at a $4 billion valuation. These are the details.
Next Insurance — a leading digital insurtech company transforming small business insurance — announced a $250 million new funding round led by FinTLV Ventures and Battery Ventures with participation from CapitalG, Group 11, Zeev Ventures, Founders Circle, and G Squared, bringing the company’s valuation to $4 billion and total funding raised to over $880 million. And the new funding round follows a momentous six months during which Next Insurance announced two acquisitions, added new strategic partners, and doubled its gross written premium. FinTLV Ventures founder and managing partner Gil Arazi and Battery Ventures general partner Michael Brown, will join as board observers.
Small business insurance is known as being an underserved market historically dominated by large insurers who cater to big commercial customers or individual consumers. And the lack of small business policy customization combined with a customer experience that needs to be digitally transformed has left small business owners feeling neglected as they search for general liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation, and other must-have coverage. And until Next Insurance, there has been no company committed to providing customized policies for all small business needs underpinned by a technology-first approach.
With this funding round, Next Insurance will have raised $881 million to bring simple, affordable, and tailored insurance products to the American economy’s most important growth engine: small businesses and the self-employed. And Next Insurance’s technology-first approach drives down costs by up to 30% when compared to traditional policies. Other examples of Next Insurance company momentum in the 6 months since the company announced its previous $250 million funding include:
– Named a small business insurance provider for Amazon’s Business Prime small business customers.
– Acquired AP Intego, a leading digital insurance agency, with key partnerships with some of the largest small business software ecosystems in the U.S., including Intuit, Gusto, Square and Toast; doubled the size of Next Insurance’s business; and expanded Next Insurance’s customer base to more than 200,000 small businesses.
– Acquired Juniper Labs, an innovative provider of alternative open data and underwriting technology, to accelerate the development of enhanced machine-learning capabilities and tools to strengthen the omni-channel customer experience.
Announcing a record year in 2020 where the company:
– Increased the number of customers holding more than one policy by 10x
– Tripled the amount of premium written by agent partners
– Hired 180 new employees
– Hit over $1 million in written premium in a single day for the first time ever
With Next Insurance, insureds have access to USA-based licensed insurance advisors, tools, and services such as 24/7 access to certificates of insurance from a mobile device or computer and in-house claims filings where a decision is typically made within 48 hours.
KEY QUOTES:
“Next Insurance’s full-stack approach to providing coverage for small businesses has created a radical paradigm shift in the legacy insurance industry. This value proposition, combined with a differentiated focus on machine learning and growing an innovative product portfolio has created unstoppable momentum that is undoubtedly changing how small businesses shop and purchase insurance. We believe that Next Insurance represents the future of Insurance.”
— Gil Arazi, founder and managing partner at FinTLV. Ventures
“Next Insurance is modernizing insurance coverage and the customer experience by creating greater access to digital coverage and reinventing the way policies are designed, sold and purchased for everyday small business owners. We believe Next Insurance is fundamentally changing the landscape of insurance and their passion for serving and supporting small businesses perfectly align with Battery’s investment goals. This is how you create an iconic insurance brand that customers love.”
— Michael Brown, general partner at Battery Ventures
“This latest round of financing is a validation of our vision which is to make it dramatically easier for small business owners to get the insurance coverage they need by removing friction from the customer experience. It starts with developing a comprehensive digital product portfolio under one roof, continues with leveraging technology that improves the customer experience, and ends with a network of integrated partnerships that bring policy purchasing to the customer within the systems they already use. We’re not done improving the lives of small business owners, but we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far.”
— Guy Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of Next Insurance
