Next Insurance Attracts $250M in New Financing; Its $631M to Date Beats Lemonade

Next Insurance secured another $250 million in financing designed to fuel continued national expansion of its digital small business insurance offerings.

CapitalG, Alphabet/Google’s independent growth fund, led the Series D round. But existing investor Munich Re Group also participated in the new capital raise, as did FinTLV, a global InsurTech venture capitalist.

As part of the new funding round, CapitalG Partner Sumiran Das will join the Next Insurance board of directors.

“We believe that there is an opportunity to use technology to transform the small business insurance experience in the U.S. and build a national insurance leader,” Das said in prepared remarks. “Next Insurance has the right team and capabilities to capitalize on this vision and is well on its way to doing so.”

To date, Next Insurance has raised $631 million, including a $250 million financing round from Munich Re in October 2019.

The technology-oriented carrier has now raised more venture capital money than Lemonade did before it went public. That startup, which sells home, renters and pet insurance, raised just under $500 million before a July 2 IPO pulled in $308 million.

An IPO for Next in the coming months is likely, based on recent actions and financings by some of its peers. InsurTech Hippo, a seller of homeowners insurance, said in July that it would explore an IPO in 2021 after raising $150 million in new financing. Root, an InsurTech that sells auto and renters insurance, last raised $350 million in September 2019 and is rumored to be readying an IPO for later this year or in early 2021, according to a recent Reuters report.

Next Insurance, with its focus on small business coverage, offers general liability, professional liability, commercial liability and now workers’ compensation. New products are planned in 2021 for small businesses in areas including accounting, construction, fitness, retail and more, the company said.

With Next Insurance, insureds can access USA-based licensed insurance advisers, tools and services like 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.

In its venture financing announcement, the company noted it now has more than 100,000 customers, and its coverage is available to 1,300 types of businesses in 50 states.

The company started 2020 with approximately 220 employees and has since increased its headcount to over 330 as of today. Continued hiring will bring that headcount up to 550 by the end of 2021, Next Insurance said.

Source: Next Insurance

Topics Tech Liability