Lightspeed Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that engages in consumer, enterprise, technology, and cleantech markets. It focuses on seed, early-stage, later-stage, expansion-stage, start-ups, growth companies, and incubation, and specializes in debt financing for start-ups and growth companies. Lightspeed Venture Partners invests in various sectors that include enterprise, consumer, big data, bitcoin, enterprise technology, cleantech, mobile, internet, financial technology, cloud solutions, e-commerce, storage, media, networking, energy, and software, software-as-a-service, information technology, biotechnology, and social. It mainly invests in countries such as the United States, Europe, Israel, China, and India.

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Nyca Partners is a venture capital and advisory firm that focuses on the fintech sector. The firm connects innovative companies to financial institutions and technology companies as well as expert individuals as investors and advisors. Nyca Partners was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, United States.

Nyca Partners

Canaan is an early stage venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs with visionary ideas. With $5B under management, a diversified fund and over 190 exits to date, Canaan has invested in some of the world's leading technology and healthcare companies over the past 30 years. Canaan’s focus areas include fintech, enterprise/cloud, marketplaces, frontier tech, biopharma, digital health, and medtech.

Canaan Partners

8VC enables industry transformation. In a wave of creative destruction, they believe emerging platforms will replace the decades-old technology infrastructure behind many industries, promoting greater innovation and prosperity.

RRE Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies across various sectors. RRE Ventures invests in early-stage companies, often participating in Seed and Series A funding rounds. They look for innovative technology solutions and scalable business models.

RRE Ventures

Thomvest is a cross-stage venture capital firm specializing in early-stage, growth-stage, start-up, and mid-venture investments. The company primarily focuses on opportunities with early-to-mid-stage companies in the fields of financial technology, marketing technology, cybersecurity, sales, and cloud infrastructure sectors. As part of their focus on these areas, they are committed to helping their companies become leaders in their fields through their work with them and through the focus on understanding where value can be created in these industries, as can be seen from the research they publish regularly.

Thomvest Ventures

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz) is a provider of retirement solutions, including fixed and variable annuities and life insurance for individuals.   Allianz Life offers various products, including fixed and variable annuities and life insurance. These products are offered through a network of more than 100,000 agents nationwide.

Allianz Life Insurance

Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures is an investment firm that provides life insurance services. Northwestern Mutual has a 160-year-old track record of industry-leading financial strength, client-centricity and entrepreneurial culture, which has not only enabled but driven us to always innovate for our clients. Plus, we know what it’s like to be a start-up because we have successful entrepreneurs on our team. In 2015, we combined forces with LearnVest through an acquisition that began as a strategic investing partnership.

Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures

Brewer Lane Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund backing founders transforming the insurance and finance industries. Their investment philosophy is that technology should be used to improve people’s lives, and they partner with founders determined to transform the market for companies and consumers alike.  It was founded in 2019 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Brewer Lane Ventures

Allianz provides a comprehensive array of insurance and asset management solutions, including property-casualty, life, and health insurance for both private and corporate clients. Their extensive portfolio covers a broad spectrum of needs, ensuring tailored solutions for diverse customer requirements. With a focus on delivering quality service, It supports clients with both personal and corporate insurance needs.

Allianz

WiL (World Innovation Lab) is a venture capital firm that partners with leading global corporations and government entities in Japan and Asia. With offices in Palo Alto, California, and Tokyo, the firm’s mission is to serve as a bridge between startups and corporations in the United States and Asia, with a particular focus on Japan. WiL supports its portfolio companies by establishing corporate partnerships that enable U.S. and European startups to scale globally, and Japanese startups to innovate and globalize. WiL invests in emerging technology spanning fintech, insurtech, automation and productivity, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, health tech and sustainability. Notable WiL investments that have exited to public markets from Fund I and Fund II include Asana, Mercari, Raksul, Wise and Auth0 — whose acquisition by Okta was completed in May 2021. WiL also invests in exceptional venture funds, and supports its LPs in corporate venture investment efforts. WiL also works with its corporate investors on evolving their own innovation capabilities through new business creation, partnerships with leading startups, and organizational culture change. WiL acts as the bridge between startups and corporates across key innovation hubs around the globe in driving growth - starting with Japan and the US.

WiL (World Innovation Lab)

Hudson Structured Capital Management is a privately owned investment manager. The firm invests in reinsurance and insurance-linked assets across all lines of business and all instruments to optimize relative value, as well as mezzanine-level risk. It pursues its strategies in the transportation sector through a focus on transportation equipment finance, favoring equipment types that serve basic economic needs with industry and regulatory frameworks that are creditor-friendly.

Hudson Structured Capital Management

Inspired Capital Partners is an early-stage technology venture fund focused on supporting the next wave of exceptional entrepreneurs. Founded in 2019, Inspired Capital is backed by founders with transformative ideas, brilliant teams, and relentless determination.

Inspired Capital Partners

OMERS Growth Equity invests and partners with companies that focus on the healthcare and technology sectors. The firm makes minority equity investments of $50M to $250M and are active partners on the boards of companies they invest in.

OMERS Growth Equity

R136 Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital firm based in Woodside, California, primarily focused on enterprise SaaS, financial technology, data & analytics, cloud, artificial intelligence, machine learning, workflow automation and b2b marketplaces in the United States and Israel.

R136 Ventures

Ladder

Ladder is a digital life insurance company that offers flexible term coverage in minutes saving policyholders up to 40%. It uses an all-digital architecture and real-time underwriting to make life insurance as accessible, affordable, and beloved as it should be.  The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It offers coverage up to $8M in all 50 states.

Ladder is a startup that provides personalized term life insurance online, with coverage ranging from USD 100,000 to USD 8 million. The company uses multiple publicly available data points to determine a customer’s eligibility and in most cases does not require a medical checkup. Ladder provides a home visit medical test for free if required. Ladder’s dynamic approach to life insurance allows policyholders to increase or decrease insurance coverage based on changing life circumstances. Ladder also provides an application programming interface (API) which allows onboarded partners such as other insurance companies, investment firms, and lenders to issue policies from Ladder digitally. The company is licensed to operate in all 50 states. More than 80% of its customers represented first time insurance buyers.

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

InsurTech: Personal Lines

Ladder Life Insurance Review: Flexible Term Life with Digital Convenience

Ladder is a startup that provides personalized term life insurance online, with coverage ranging from USD 100,000 to USD 8 million. The company uses multiple publicly available data points to determine a customer’s eligibility and in most cases does not require a medical checkup. Ladder provides a home visit medical test for free if required. Ladder’s dynamic approach to life insurance allows policyholders to increase or decrease insurance coverage based on changing life circumstances. Ladder also provides an application programming interface (API) which allows onboarded partners such as other insurance companies, investment firms, and lenders to issue policies from Ladder digitally. The company is licensed to operate in all 50 states. More than 80% of its customers represented first time insurance buyers.Key customers and partnershipsThe company sells its own life insurance policies in California through its carrier, Ladder Life Insurance Company. In New York policies are underwritten by Allianz Life Insurance, and in all other states by Fidelity Security Life Insurance, Amica Life Insurance Company, Lincoln Financial and USA LIfe Insurance.Ladder had collaborated with many financial service institutions to extend its product offering. It partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25889">Envestnet | MoneyGuide</a>, AmeriSave Mortgage, and Halo Investing, to deliver its digital life insurance to customers through the advisors of the latter.Funding and financialsIn October 2021, the company raised USD 100 million in Series D funding co-led by Thomvest Ventures and OMERS Growth Equity, at a valuation of USD 900 million. The new funds will be directed towards further developing its products and expanding its workforce. As of the same date, the company also reported that its revenue grew by over 4x year-over-year (YoY).

<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 January 2024, Root held a carrier license in 48 states and offered automobile insurance in 31 states.
 
 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 January 2024, the company&rsquo;s renters&rsquo; insurance product was available in 18 states.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Root had 259,522 policies in force as of September 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>
 
 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

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. Clearcover also launched a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27767">GenAI-powered claims intake tool</a> to navigate a conversation-driven experience after First Notice of Loss (FNOL) to collect information about an accident. The tool available through its mobile app includes a claims assistant and a real-time customer question resolution feature. It plans to incorporate the tool into its agent portal and website in the future.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 January 2024, Clearcover offered its policies in 19 states in the US.&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.Key customers and partnershipsClearcover partnered with claims management solution vendor Snapsheet (May 2020) to fully digitize its own claims function from First Notification of Losses (FNOLs) to disbursements. It also partnered with ServiceUp (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32888">April 2024</a>), a technology company specializing in automotive repairs, to improve the car repair experience for insurance claims.Moreover, it collaborated with Experian to offer car insurance on the latter’s insurance comparison site (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18045">April 2023</a>). This was part of Clearcover’s strategy to expand its distribution channels.

Clearcover

<div>
 
 Kin offers digital homeowners insurance with personalized policies featuring premiums determined based on an assessment of the property that includes more than 10,000 data points from sources such as property records, government records, and satellite imagery.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company launched its insurance carrier, the Kin Interinsurance Network, in 2019, which operates as a reciprocal exchange (a form of insurance where underwriting profits are shared with customers). As of May 2024, it had a presence in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, and Texas.
 
 
 In December 2021, Kin acquired an inactive insurance carrier with licenses in 43 states. This acquisition was part of Kin's plan to expand its operations to most US states.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of February 2024, it served over 115,000 policyholders.
 
 
 The company has partnered with Kangaroo, a smart home tech provider, to offer its customers free home security solutions. Additionally, it has collaborated with Cape Analytics, a property analytics provider that utilizes geospatial imagery for property intelligence, and Snapsheet, a claims management platform provider, to automate their internal processes.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Kin Insurance was set to go public through a merger with Omnichannel Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in a transaction that valued the company at over USD 1 billion. However, this was terminated in January 2022, citing unfavorable market conditions.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 In February 2024, the company received USD 15 million 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26317">
 investment
 </a>
 from Activate Capital, with the funds earmarked to accelerate growth by expanding into new markets and developing new products.
 
 
 Kin Insurance recorded gross written premium (GWP) of USD 344.1 million in 2023 (up 50.7% YoY), and generated operating income of USD 5.0 million compared to an operating loss of USD 11.6 million in the prior year.
 
 
 
</div>

Kin Insurance

Startups in the automobile insurance space, predominantly providing usage-based insurance using telematics devices and/or smartphone sensors.

Startups that offer homeowners and renters insurance using artificial intelligence (AI) and smart home devices to issue policies and validate claims.

Startups that provide life insurance through digital channels personalized to an individual’s circumstances and replacing traditional practices, such as medical tests, with data-driven underwriting.

Companies that offer personal line covers for travel and pets through digital channels and use technologies such as flight tracking and online claims processing.

Providers of comparison websites and tools for carriers, agents, and consumers to compare and purchase policies.

Companies that provide personalized health insurance to consumers via digital channels and use technology such as wearable medical devices to monitor health and improve user experience and underwriting.

Companies that offer digital-only insurance for personal belongings (bicycles, mobile phones, laptops, and cameras), providing protection against theft, loss, or damage, with financial reimbursement or replacement.

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

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

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

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

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 
Digital life insurance provider, Ladder, has partnered with financial planning software firm, Envestnet | MoneyGuide, to offer digital access to term life insurance offerings for advisors. Through this collaboration, advisors utilizing Envestnet I MoneyGuide Elite's Advanced Lifetime Protection platform can now provide their clients with digital term life insurance. Additionally, they can demonstrate how a strategically laddered Ladder policy may save clients up to 40% over a traditional 30-year term coverage.
 
</div>

Ladder

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