Investor funding in insurtech came to $5 billion in the first quarter of 2021 with 261 deals, according to Forrester’s "Insurtech funding roundup, Q1 2021" report.
This more than five times increase from $1 billion in Q1 2020 comes with a caveat: Forrester includes an injection of $3.4 billion in stock for the digital broker Acrisure. Companies that took the more traditional funding round for equity made up the remainder of Forrester’s calculation.
With Acrisure removed, the majority (81%) of the $1.6 billion invested in insurtech in Q1 2021 went to early- and seed-stage investments, compared to 59% of the $900 million invested in Q1 2020.
By insurance category, even with Acrisure removed, enterprise and commercial insurance was the most-invested category of the quarter, hitting $500 million even without the major Acrisure piece. Following were:
- Health/travel, $236 million
- Life and P&C, $159 million
- Benefits, $147 million
- Comparison sites, $138 million.
“Insurers continue to recognize the value of innovation. During the quarter, they invested in a broad array of startups that complement their product portfolios (e.g., Nationwide Insurance’s investment in Beam Dental) or optimize their business processes (e.g., Aflac Corporate Ventures’ investment in Ushur),” said Jeffery Williams, Senior Analyst at Forrester and author of the report.
Jemma Stephenson contributed reporting.
