Accel is an early and growth-stage venture capital firm that powers a global community of entrepreneurs. Accel backs entrepreneurs who have what it takes to build a business.  Accel’s vision for entrepreneurship and business enables it to identify and invest in the companies that will be responsible for the growth of next-generation industries. Accel-backed companies include Atlassian, Braintree, Cloudera, DJI, Dropbox, Dropcam, Etsy, Facebook, Flipkart, Lookout Security, MoPub, Qualtrics, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, Vox Media, and others.

Accel

Elaia is an independent venture capital firm, focused on the digital economy and deep tech. With over €700m under management, Elaia invests in high-potential disruptive startups from the first financing rounds to the emergence of global leaders. With more than 75 years of cumulated experience in both venture capital and digital industries, the investment team offers close, proactive, and relevant support to its entrepreneurs. Elaia was founded in 2002 by Philippe Gire and Xavier Lazarus and is based in Paris, Ile-de-France, France.

Elaia

Iris Capital is a European VC specialized in digital, fueling entrepreneurs from early stage to growth since 1986.  From Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Dubai, Iris Capital supports start-ups and scale-ups in their global expansion with the unique support on its multi corporate partners, including Orange, Publicis, Valeo and BRED. Iris Capital invests in various industries, from platforms to Saas, AdTech, IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, IoT, robotics and mobile services, and is always looking for ambitious industry disrupters led by unique entrepreneurs across the world.

IRIS

The aim of Scientipole Initiative is to closely associate corporate and technological resources in order to contribute to the emergence of innovative enterprises and support the development of such projects.   Scientipole Initiative audits the potential projects, counsels and accompanies the future entrepreneurs from both a scientific and technological base as well as from a managerial point of view. The granting of a non-guaranteed no interest loan to the principal entrepreneur(s) of the start-up or project furnishes a real tool of financial leverage. This loan is a personnel loan, ranging from 20 to 90K€ per enterprise, for a period of up to 5 years.   After the loan has been granted, Scientipole Initiative provides a follow-up of the projects it has helped by direct sponsorship, coaching and workshops.   Scientipole Initiative relies on a large network of over 60 experts who provide support to the new entrepreneurs.   Since 2002, Scientipôle Initiative’s approval committee has backed 630 businesses with a financial commitment of over  €25,5 million.   Scientipôle Initiative has a permanent staff of 13. It can call upon a network of some 60 experts, with experience in diverses technologies, finance, marketing and business organization and administration .

Wilco

Agoranov is a public Science & Tech incubator that provides mentorship, office space, funding, and consultancy services to startups. The company is based in Paris. Agoranov has supported more than 380 startups that have already created more than 7,000 direct jobs and raised €700 million from private funds. Among them Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO), Anevia, Biophytis, Gensight and Pixium listed on Alternext, or Aldebaran, Dataiku, Doctolib, Point Vision and Ynsect. Agoranov, founded by the Universities Pierre and Marie Curie and Paris-Dauphine, Ecole Normale Supérieure, ParisTech, and INRIA, is supported by the Ministry of Research and Higher Education, the Ile de France Region, the City of Paris and the European Social Fund. Agoranov provides its 60 incubated with personalized support, a state-of-the-art acceleration program, quality accommodation in the center of Paris and a rich community of several hundred entrepreneurs.

AGORANOV

Launched in New York City in 2003, HDS Capital is dedicated to investing, mentoring and providing corporate access and contacts to startups and early stage companies at the intersection of technology, retail and fashion.  We are pleased to assist and mentor the entrepreneurs and companies we invest in. We believe in winning teams, not just ideas, and we invest in people. We provide access to our vast network in the retail, fashion and consumer product space.  Managing partner and co-founder Haim Dabah is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in successfully building brands and businesses, with deep relationships in the retail and fashion worlds. The HDS team and its advisors include other entrepreneurs, marketers, and industry insiders…an all around wise and fun bunch of leaders.  We look forward to sharing our joint experience to serve our portfolio companies, and to help you facilitate building a large, successful business.

HDS Capital

General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that provides early-stage and growth equity investments. The company provides ongoing momentum that accelerates ideas, careers, and companies toward standout success.

General Catalyst

Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long-standing companies. Their portfolio includes pinterest, shopify, twilio, yelp, linkedin, pagerduty, docusign, wix, fiverr, and toast, and has $19 billion of assets under management.

Bessemer Venture Partners

Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity firms. With offices on four continents, we have established a globally integrated team of more than 195 investment professionals, focused on buyouts and growth equity investments in five core sectors. Since initiating its private equity strategy in 1989, the firm has invested $44 billion in over 345 private equity investments across 41 countries, and as of December 31, 2018, managed $36 billion in assets.

Advent International

Guidewire Software, Inc. provides technology solutions to the property, casualty, and workers compensation insurance industry. It offers ClaimCenter, a Web-based claims system that supports various lines of personal, commercial, and workers' compensation insurance; BillingCenter, a Web-based enterprise application for coordinating, executing, and recording receivables transactions; and PolicyCenter, a Web-based underwriting and policy administration system for personal and commercial line carriers. The company also offers implementation services; and assessment services for property and casualty companies in North America. Its solutions are used to perform various insurance operations, including billing, underwriting, policy, and claim management. Guidewire Software, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is based in San Mateo, California with additional offices in London, Munich, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Toronto.

Guidewire Software

Avenir Growth Capital is a New York-based private investment firm focused on growth equity opportunities. They partner with visionary founders to build high-quality businesses capitalizing on these paradigm shifts.

Avenir Growth Capital

Alma Mundi Ventures is a venture capital firm that funds primarily technology-based companies with B2B and B2B2C business models. The firms' third fund is an InsurTech Venture Fund with a European focus, backed by leading European international insurance companies and Mutuality Funds, investing between 1M and 7M in Series A, B, and C of leading European insurance startups. AMV is headquartered in Madrid but with an operational presence in Barcelona, London and Seattle.

Alma Mundi Ventures

Shift Technology

Shift Technology delivers AI-native decision automation and optimization solutions built specifically for the global insurance industry. Addressing several critical processes across the insurance policy lifecycle, Shift helps insurers achieve faster, more accurate claims and policy resolutions. Shift has analyzed billions of insurance transactions to date and was presented Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 Global Claims Solutions for Insurance Market Leadership Award.

<div>Shift Technology, based in France, provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for insurers to automate claims and detect fraud during the underwriting and claims processing stages. The company’s platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and a combination of internal and third-party data to flag potentially fraudulent claims. Furthermore, it provides a white-label mobile app that takes advantage of the company’s fraud detection capabilities and enables insurers to streamline their entire claims functions from First Notification of Losses (FNOLs) to disbursements. In addition to France, the company maintains regional offices in the US, Japan, the UK, Spain, and Singapore.</div>

New insurance models are disrupting a centuries-old industry with a focus on personalization and convenience.

Neo Insurance

<div>
 
 Shift Technology, based in France, provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for insurers to automate claims and detect fraud during the underwriting and claims processing stages. The company’s platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and a combination of internal and third-party data to flag potentially fraudulent claims. Furthermore, it provides a white-label mobile app that takes advantage of the company’s fraud detection capabilities and enables insurers to streamline their entire claims functions from First Notification of Losses (FNOLs) to disbursements. In addition to France, the company maintains regional offices in the US, Japan, the UK, Spain, and Singapore.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of May 2021, the company had a workforce of 350 people, and it claimed to have analyzed ~2 billion claims globally. It also worked with more than 100 customers across 25 countries, including insurance companies such as AXA, Generali France, and Mitsui Sumitomo. 
 
 
 Shift collaborated with big data provider Legentic in April 2022, through which it aimed to allow its customers access structured data to minimize fraudulent claims and improve claims processing times. It also formed strategic partnerships to integrate its product as part of other insurtech’s product offerings such as with Sapiens, providing the latter’s customers with alerts regarding fraudulent claims.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In May 2021, Shift Technology raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/2834">
 USD 220 million in a Series D 
 </a>
 funding in a round led by Advent International at a valuation of over USD 1 billion. The company expected to use the funding to expand its presence in the property and casualty market and also venture into other insurance verticals such as health. The funding was to also be channeled toward accelerating business growth in the US. In November 2021, the company received an undisclosed investment from Guidewire, as an 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6418">
 extension to its Series D
 </a>
 round. The company was to use the new funds to further develop its technology and support its go-to-market strategies.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Root Insurance is a full-stack insurance provider focusing on usage-based automobile insurance. The company offers a mobile app that collects data on driving speeds, braking patterns, and driving times using smartphone sensors, and applies artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive models to offer a personalized premium to the customer. The company claimed that the latest model utilizes double the proprietary data, demonstrating 17% greater predictive capabilities than the previous model. Moreover, the app incentivizes safe driving by providing greater insight into one&rsquo;s driving patterns and issuing additional discounts for improved driving behavior. Root allows customers to file claims directly through the mobile app. As of December 2021, Root held a carrier license in 48 states and offered automobile insurance in 32 states&mdash;most recently in Kansas.
 
 
 In July 2019, Root launched its renters&rsquo; insurance product and expanded to homeowners insurance in May 2020. The homeowners&rsquo; insurance is provided through a partnership with Homesite Insurance, a Boston-based property and casualty insurer that will underwrite any homeowners insurance policies issued by Root. As of June 2021, the company&rsquo;s renters&rsquo; insurance product was available in eight states.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Root had 203,840 policies in force as of June 2023.
 
 
 Root entered into a partnership with Carvana in July 2022, to offer usage-based auto insurance policies on the latter&rsquo;s used-car online platform.
 
 
 In addition, it had also collaborated with other players in the insurance space to optimize and digitize its insurance services.In January 2021, Root partnered with Tractable, a UK-based provider of AI-based solutions, to leverage its AI Subro solution to optimize Root&rsquo;s end-to-end claims process, starting with subrogation, where two insurance carriers negotiate the division of expenses when multiple parties are involved in a claim. It also partnered with CCC Intelligence Solutions in February 2023, to use its first-party casualty solution to streamline and digitize first- and third-party casualty claims through a single digital workflow.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In October 2020, Root sold 26.8 million shares in its initial public offering (IPO), raising USD 724.4 million in the process at a valuation of USD 6.8 billion. In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8089">
 January 2022
 </a>
 , Root received a five-year term loan of USD 300 million from BlackRock Financial Management (BlackRock) to extend its debt maturity and improve its liquidity position.
 
 
 For the full year of 2022, Root reported total revenue of USD 310.8 million (down 10.0% YoY), while its net losses improved to USD 297.7 million from a loss of USD 521.1 million in 2021. Its gross loss ratio improved to 82.1% from 86.0% in 2021.
 
 
 
</div>

Root Insurance

<div>
 
 Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) launched its mobile-focused usage-based insurance (UBI) platform in 2012, enabling insurers to build their own UBI products. The company&rsquo;s product suite includes a white-label mobile app (DriveWell) and an Internet of Things (IoT) tag that collects telematics data that insurers can use to assess risk, incentivize behavioral change through gamification, and reconstruct crashes for accurate claims processing. The app also notifies insurers instantly during an accident, allowing them to dispatch help and begin the claims process. It also enables insurers to detect fraudulent claims based on telematics data.
 
 
 In June 2021, the company acquired TrueMotion, a developer of telematics solutions for auto insurance, for an undisclosed amount. Founded in 2012, TrueMotion helps insurers develop their own usage-based insurance products by allowing developers to build mobile apps on top of its platform which collects information from smartphone sensors in relation to an individual's driving behavior. The platform also includes telematic data features to file claims using the app and other value-added services such as good driving incentives and quick accident responses following a crash. TrueMotion&rsquo;s telematics solution can also be used by fleet operators to monitor the driving patterns of its drivers. Through the acquisition, the two companies will combine their products to bolster CMT&rsquo;s offerings and expand the company&rsquo;s geographical reach. 
 
 
 In addition, CMT acquired Amodo, a turnkey usage-based auto insurance solutions provider based in Europe 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16753">
 in March 2023
 </a>
 , for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, Amodo will operate under the CMT brand and will gain access to its advanced telematics solutions. Through the acquisition, CMT aimed to accelerate its global reach and strengthen its position in Europe.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of March 2023, CMT&rsquo;s technology-powered 95 enterprise programs across 25 countries including nine in continental Europe. In addition, its solutions are used by 21 of the top 25 insurers in the US, including insurers such as StateFarm, Liberty Mutual, and Progressive. CMT&rsquo;s solutions are also used by rideshare companies and large fleet operators.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s last funding round was in December 2018, where it raised USD 500 million from SoftBank&rsquo;s Vision Fund, with plans to expand its platform.
 
</div>

Cambridge Mobile Telematics

<div>
 
 Hippo is a digital homeowner insurance provider. The company offers its homeowner policies online, with each policy accompanied by a complementary smart home monitoring system that will help identify risks proactively. It provides coverage using a combination of machine learning, satellite imagery, and other public records and actively reviews for any changes to the property overtime.
 
 
 Hippo also provides home insurance to buyers of newly built homes that is directly integrated to the digital mortgage and title process through its Builders business. Further, it launched 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16051">
 Hippo Builder Insurance Agency (HBIA)
 </a>
 in January 2023, to allow builders of all sizes to partner with HBIA to send leads of homeowners in return for a fee.
 
 
 The company also offers an on-demand homecare and maintenance app (Hippo Homecare) which it launched in 2019 following the acquisition of Sheltr, a home maintenance platform, during the same year. It also launched &ldquo;Book a Pro'' feature within its mobile app in Q4 2022, which allows homeowners based in Texas to connect to home improvement professionals as well as message its Hippo&rsquo;s own home care experts to get advice. Hippo also plans to roll-out this feature to other states in the future.
 
 
 In June 2020, Hippo entered into an agreement to acquire long-time insurance partner Spinnaker Insurance Company, which is a property and casualty insurer registered in all 50 states, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was expected to help the company expand its geographical reach. The company&rsquo;s homeowner offering was available in 40 states as of January 2023.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Hippo had 332,000 customers as of September 2022, and it claimed nearly 75% of its new customers were Gen B.
 
 
 The company partnered with property and casualty risk intelligence company, 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17629">
 Opterrix in April 2023
 </a>
 , to leverage its real-time data on severe weather events to identify at-risk policyholders and improve its claims management capabilities.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In November 2020, Hippo raised USD 350 million from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance company. The company expects to use this funding to support its national expansion plans and also evaluate acquisition opportunities to grow inorganically.
 
 
 For FY2022, the company recorded total generated premiums of USD 811.1 million, which was up 33.8% YoY. Its gross loss ratio improved 62 percentage points to 76% during the year, while its net loss improved 10.2% YoY to USD 333.4 million.
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

Hippo Insurance

<div>
 
 Clearcover is a fully digital automobile insurance provider that offers insurance coverage and claims filing using online channels along with other value-added services such as roadside assistance. The company leverages AI and machine learning models to provide personalized pricing to its customers and validate claims. The company states that it can handle 96% of all claims virtually.&nbsp;
 
 
 Clearcover also uses an application programming interface (API) to offer embedded car insurance. This powers 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21232">
 Choice
 </a>
 , an end-to-end embedded auto insurance solution that allows brands to provide auto insurance policy options from various carriers to their customers. As of March 2023, Clearcover offered its policies in 19 states in the US.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In May 2020, Clearcover partnered with claims management solution vendor Snapsheet to fully digitize its own claims function from First Notification of Losses (FNOLs) to disbursements. Moreover, it collaborated with Experian to offer car insurance on the latter&rsquo;s insurance comparison site 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18045">
 in April 2023
 </a>
 . This was part of Clearcover&rsquo;s strategy to expand its distribution channels.
 
 
 Fundings and financials&nbsp;
 
 
 In April 2021, the company raised USD 200 million in a Series D funding round, led by Eldridge, at a valuation in excess of USD 1 billion. The company expects to use the funding toward product development and increasing headcount.&nbsp;
 
 
 For FY2022, the company generated total direct premiums written of USD 140.7 million (up 79% YoY) and recorded USD 61.4 million in net premiums earned. Its net losses amounted to USD 38.7 million for the year, while its loss ratio and combined loss ratios stood at 115% and 158%, respectively.
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

Clearcover

Limited number of life insurers use genetic/epigenetics to underwrite life insurance

Infrastructure and embedded solutions are offered under a B2B SaaS model

Uses personal data to underwrite and price personalized policies such as usage-based insurance for vehicles

Used for underwriting and claims; infrastructure providers offer AI/ML products to traditional insurers

IoTs used to proactively mitigate risks and offer usage-based insurance

Solutions that help insurers assess risk for neo insurance products, using AI and alternative data sources like telematics and satellite imagery. These platforms also help leverage this data to automate pricing for new policies and monitor their current portfolio risk.

Platforms that help automate the claims function using digital portals to collect notifications, process them using AI, detect fraud, and automate the whole claims handling process until payout.

Shift Technology

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