A total of 85 insurtech investment rounds representing $1.42 billion in funding was reported in the first quarter of 2019, representing several high-water marks for the industry, according to Willis Towers Watson's latest Quarterly Insurtech Briefing.
It's the third straight quarter with more than a billion dollars in investment reported, after only one quarter hit that mark in the first six years of data (and none between Q2 2015 and Q3 2018). In addition, the 85 deals is the most ever recorded in a quarter, and the 10 of those that eclipsed $40 million was also a record for a quarter.
"The final quarter of 2018 represented the second-highest quarter of insurtech investment, ever," writes Dr. Andrew Johnston, global head of Willis Re Insurtech and the quarterly briefing editor. "In 2019 Q1, we observed the highest number of transactions, the highest number of property & casualty (P&C) transactions, and the highest volume of Series and Series C funding rounds since the publication started recording."
Geographically, the U.S. still reports a plurality of insurtech deals, but the rest of the world is catching up. Fifty-four percent of this quarter's deals took place outside the U.S., compared to 42% in 2016, for example. UK deals increased by half, but China's fell by slightly more than a third.
Medicare Advantage start-up Clover received the highest amount of funding in the quarter, a $500 million Series E fund. Other major transactions included:
- Wefox, $125 million Series B
- Friday, an $84.25 million Series A
- Acko General Insurance, $65 million Series C
- Shift Technology, $60 million Series C
- CoverHound, $58 million Series D
