Sequoia is a venture capital focused on energy, financial, enterprise, healthcare, internet, and mobile startups. The firm helps a small number of daring founders build legendary companies. It spurs them to push the boundaries of what’s possible. The firm seeks to invest in all sectors with a focus on energy, financials and financial services, healthcare and healthcare services, Internet, mobile, outsourcing, and technology.

Sequoia Capital

Peterson Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on SaaS, digital commerce, and healthcare. They provide seed funding to entrepreneurs looking for a partner to help solve the challenges that accompany rapid growth.

Peterson Ventures

Heroic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in heroes - the passionate and purposeful entrepreneurs solving real problems in huge markets.

Heroic Ventures

SV Angel is a San Francisco-based venture fund. Their experience spans helping companies like Airbnb, Coinbase, Databricks, DoorDash, Faire, Flexport, GitHub, Notion, Pinterest, Snap, Square, and Stripe Scale. Over the last 30 years of investing, their core values of trust, loyalty, and integrity along with a founder-first approach have driven our strategy. They are a service organization, investing in founders who share these values. They support entrepreneurs in building lasting companies by assisting at key inflection points and leveraging networks to help them propel their businesses forward.

Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business. Few colleges can match the breadth, excellence, and prestige of Stanford’s academics, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.   The university is organized into seven schools: Business, Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, Law, and Medicine Student life at Stanford is quite active, due in part to the 11,000+ students living on campus. Art is a strong presence at Stanford, fostered by Stanford Lively Arts, the Cantor Center for Visual Arts, and numerous student clubs and organizations. Stanford also features extensive athletic programs, including more than 35 varsity sports and about 20 clubs sports. In order to maintain its high standards, Stanford University has extremely selective admissions. The university admits undergraduates based on a combination of academic achievement, intellectual curiosity, and personal experience. Graduate admissions criteria and application procedures vary based on the program of study. Undergraduates at Stanford have access to a variety of financial aid opportunities, including institutional scholarships, grants from the government, and student employment. Graduate students can receive financial aid through fellowships and grants, but funding is typically not available for master’s students.

Stanford University

Evolution VC Partners invest and partner with disruptive companies with a strong team, product, and market opportunity.  They help entrepreneurs build great companies and consider themselves to be investment accelerators and will seek to be active creators of value for their portfolio companies.

Evolution VC Partners

ARRIVE is Roc Nation's venture capital platform.  Roc Nation is a diversified business founded by JAY-Z.  ARRIVE investments include Ethos Life, Robinhood, Noom, sweetgreen, Epic Games,  Workstream, Kopi Kenangan, SpaceX, Landis Technologies, Manticore Games, MSCHF, Whisper, and many more

Arrive

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

Google Ventures supports innovative founders who are moving the world forwards. They invest across the life sciences, consumer, enterprise, crypto, climate, and frontier technology sectors. With Alphabet as its sole limited partner, GV operates on long time horizons and deals in decades, not rounds. Their operating partners help startups with company building across design, equity, diversity & inclusion, talent, and engineering. They also help startups interface with Google, providing unique access to the world’s best technology and talent. Launched as Google Ventures in 2009, GV has over $8 billion in assets under management and 400 active portfolio companies across North America and Europe. Notable investment outcomes include Uber, Nest, Slack, GitLab, Duo Security, Flatiron Health, Verve Therapeutics, and One Medical. GV is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Cambridge, New York, and London.

Google Ventures

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services, as well as financial services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory services, including advisory assignments concerning mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, and restructurings and spin-offs; and underwriting services comprising public offerings and private placements of a range of securities, loans, and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company’s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution services, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as executes and clears institutional client transactions on stock, options, and futures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment originates longer-term loans; and invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, distressed assets, currencies, commodities, and power generation facilities. The company’s investment management segment provides investment products and services, as well as offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services.

Goldman Sachs

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

Glade Brook Capital Partners focuses on companies in the technology, media, telecom, and consumer sectors.  Glade Brook specializes in technology growth equity, the Firms' experience investing across private and public markets, and a network of company management teams, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders foster unique deal flow.  It was founded in 2011 by Paul Hudso.

Glade Brook Capital Partners

Dreamers VC they invest in early stage companies through the application of emerging technology in seed, A, or B rounds.

Dreamers VC

FootPrint Coalition is a media and investment group using robotics and nanotechnology to clean up the planet. It combines high impact media with early-stage and opportunistic growth stage investments. Their goal is to scale the adoption of technologies to restore the environment. Additionally directs grants and attention to world-changing environmental nonprofit strategies it discovers through its research. It was launch by actor Robert Downey Jr.

FootPrint Coalition

GoldenArc Capital is a Silicon Valley based funding firm built to identify and invest in the next generation of driving private development stage technology companies. The firm's portfolio has generated top-tier returns with investments in more than 20 companies and achieved 4 IPOs to date with several more in the IPO pipeline

GoldenArc Capital

Vetamer Capital Management is a global growth-oriented investment firm that makes concentrated, long-term investments in public and private financial technology and software companies. It specializes in the fields of venture capital. financial services, and finance.

Vetamer

SoftBank Vision Fund is a subsidiary of Softbank Group that specializes in growth capital and social impact investments. Sectors that the fund invests in include the internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, communications infrastructure, telecoms, computational biology, biotech, cloud technologies and software, consumer internet businesses, financial technology, and mobile apps. The Fund is designed to be a catalyst for technology progress in anticipation that it will expand SoftBank's capabilities, accelerating progress towards SoftBank 2.0. It aims to invest in businesses and foundational platforms that SoftBank believes to revolutionize and innovate the world tomorrow.

SoftBank Vision Fund

Ethos Life

Ethos Life is an insurance company that provides modern and ethical life insurance to protect life. They’re building ground-breaking software for life insurance (a $650 billion market) and the company's mission is to make protecting your family affordable, accessible, and instant. It also employs a human approach in delivering its services. Ethos policies are issued and guaranteed by Legal & General America (LGA), a large U.S. life insurance provider since 1836. They use technology to learn about what makes you unique so that they can find new and truly personal ways to cover you. Ethos was founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States.

<div>Ethos offers personalized term life insurance of up to 30-year terms for applicants between the ages of 20 - 65 (maximum coverage of USD 2 million) and whole life insurance for applicants between the ages of 65 - 85. Ethos relies on questions asked during the onboarding process and uses data science and machine learning to analyze over 300,000 data points in order to underwrite policies. The company claims that the process does not require a medical check-up, and policies are issued in minutes for most applicants. The company offers both term and whole life insurance policies starting at USD 8 per month per policy.&nbsp;</div>

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

Neo Insurance

Ethos

<div>
 
 Ethos offers personalized term life insurance of up to 30-year terms for applicants between the ages of 20 - 65 (maximum coverage of USD 2 million) and whole life insurance for applicants between the ages of 65 - 85. Ethos relies on questions asked during the onboarding process and uses data science and machine learning to analyze over 300,000 data points in order to underwrite policies. The company claims that the process does not require a medical check-up, and policies are issued in minutes for most applicants. The company offers both term and whole life insurance policies starting at USD 8 per month per policy.&nbsp;
 
 
 Ethos operates under an agency model, issuing policies written by insurance giants such as Legal &amp; General, AAA Life, and TruStage. The company was licensed to operate in 49 states excluding New York as of March 2023.
 
 
 In January 2022, Ethos acquired Tomorrow, a digital wills and estate-planning startup, for an undisclosed amount. Tomorrow offers a platform that enables individuals to set up digital wills and trusts, which include legal wills, trust-based estate plans, and life insurance products. Through the acquisition, Ethos intends to offer its own life insurance policies via Tomorrow&rsquo;s app, which the company plans to roll out by mid-2022.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In May 2021, Ethos raised USD 200 million in a Series D funding round led by General Catalyst, valuing the company at USD 2 billion. Two months later, the company raised a further USD 100 million in funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which valued the company over USD 2.7 billion. The company expects to use the funding for developing new products, expanding its workforce, and international growth.
 
 
 The company had projected to issue USD 20 billion worth of life insurance policies in 2021, and it reported that its revenue and customers increased by more than 600% YoY in 2021.
 
</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

<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>

Shift Technology

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

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.

Ethos

EDGE Insights

Mid-Summer Financial Services Update - It's still where the money is

Recent Updates

Ethos acquires digital wills and estate-planning startup Tomorrow for an undisclosed amount

Ethos strengthens leadership team; onboards three former Zillow executives

Ethos raises USD 100 million in funding

Company Brief

Funding

Investors

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless