3 Things – New Ventures, Sentry Acquires The General & Insurtech Partnerships

Hi Friends, we are back again with our weekly post using the headlines to tell the story of the week in insurance. As we move forward, ongoing themes continue their momentum. This week, we are following launches and expansions eyeing growth and opportunity, the continued movement of private equity and other investment flowing into our stable insurance world and partnership between value-added players looking to improve upon existing insurance risk management and underwriting experiences. Let’s delve into what we learned this week.

Attune, PURE & Markel Launch New Ventures

It is the time of year when companies are looking ahead and launching their new ventures and territories to power future growth while adapting the changing industry landscape. This week saw a few of those moves featuring Attune, PURE and Markel. They all appear to be eyeing growth through expansion and targeting of niche risk markets.

Attune Insurance has launched EverPeak, a digital workers’ compensation product designed for small businesses and hard-to-place industries. Available in 14 states, the platform simplifies insurance processes by allowing agents to quickly generate quotes and bind policies. EverPeak is backed by Pinnacol Assurance, a worker’s comp specialist and A-rated national carrier, with product development, pricing, and underwriting handled by EverPeak.

PURE Insurance, has expanded into Canada, launching a Toronto office and offering home insurance to affluent homeowners with properties valued over $2 million. This move provides Canadian residents, particularly those with U.S. properties, a seamless insurance experience across borders. The move demonstrates PURE’s ambition to grow and take advantage of their history in the high net worth space to underwrite the growing segment of high value homes in difficult-to-insure geographies.

Markel continues to diversify and broaden their reach announcing they have launched FintechRisk, a new insurance product specifically designed to cover fintech companies against a range of risks including liability and cyber threats. This offering targets the unique challenges fintech firms face in areas such as regulatory requirements, data breaches, and cyberattacks. The move looks to be directed and a growing niche and targeting risks covered by other less stable players.

Sentry Acquires The General, Investments Showcase Value

There were a few notable stories this week, the biggest was Sentry Insurance’s acquisition of The General, a non-standard auto insurance provider, from American Family Insurance. This acquisition will allow Sentry to diversify its portfolio and expand its reach in the non-standard auto insurance market, which serves. They will build on The General’s established brand presence while American Family can focus elsewhere on specialty business and venture capital (see below).

A recent private equity investment commitment of $1 billion from Atlas Partners has valued Sedgwick at $13.2 billion. The investment joins a group of private equity firms led by Carlyle Group and Stone Capital. This valuation reflects Sedgwick’s extensive reach and influence in claims management and risk solutions, as well as its continued growth in the services space.

Ledgebrook has raised $17 million in a Series B funding round, led by family offices Duquesne and The Stephens Group, with additional participation from Brand Foundry Ventures and American Family Ventures. This follows their $24 million Series A earlier in 2024. The funds will support operational expansion and innovation and showcase the interest investors have in experienced management teams.

Insurtech Future Favors Partnerships

The ongoing theme of insurtech’s future is partnerships that create value-added offerings to improve the industry. This week, many of those stories focused on leveraging data and targeting the evolving trend of micro-mobility.

AdvantageGo has partnered with Ping Data Intelligence to enhance data efficiency for insurers and reinsurers. This collaboration will combine underwriting workbench technology with Ping’s advanced property data technology capabilities. It will offer underwriters with improved decision-making processes and operational efficiency, offering better insights into risk.

Akur8 has expanded its capabilities by acquiring the Arius Reserving Solution from Milliman. This move strengthens Akur8’s product portfolio by integrating Arius’s advanced reserving tools with Akur8’s machine learning-powered pricing platform. The acquisition aims to provide a comprehensive solution for insurers, combining faster, more accurate actuarial processes with enhanced risk management capabilities.

Lime has partnered with Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance to expand its e-scooter operations in Japan. The collaboration promotes safe micromobility by introducing MSI’s auto liability and personal insurance for Lime users. Lime, which launched 200 e-scooters in Tokyo, will also work with MSI to increase docking stations for convenience. The partnership could be expanded to the growing segment of mobility devices in the US and beyond.

Join us as we continue to explore the headlines and news shaping the insurance sector, and stay tuned for more insights on the unfolding narrative of our industry!  Stay productive, stay safe and stay in touch!