InsurTech Accelerant raised more than $190 million at a $2 billion pre-money valuation in its latest funding round.
The round was led by Eldridge, with participation from Deer Park, Marshall Wace, MS&AD Ventures and others. Existing majority investor Altamont Capital Partners also participated.
The Atlanta, Georgia, based InsurTech aims to provide underwriters with risk exchange and data analytics coupled with long-term capacity commitments. A spokesperson for the InsurTech said now is the right time for this funding round as it is seeking continued scale by expanding its geographical footprint and reinvesting in its data-driven platform, InSightFull.
Accelerant specializes in serving a network of managing general underwriters (MGU) and program administrators (PA) that it refers to as its members. Its InSightFull data platform helps members better understand risk and handle operational and regulatory complexity. Its focus is on small and medium-sized businesses and their niche insurance needs.
“We believe that data informs our shared assessment of risk — and it’s why we share things such as neighborhood crime data, geo mapping of claims data and even the proximity of fire stations with our members,” the Accelerant spokesperson said. “This kind of granular data can help inform how or whether MGUs take advantage of an opportunity.”
The new funding will enable Accelerant to continue to invest in building out this platform and its data sources, according to the spokesperson. This comes as Accelerant sees a lack of access to modern technology for legacy carriers as an ongoing challenge within the insurance industry at large.
“Historically, underwriters that support complex or niche lines of businesses have lacked access to the modern solutions they need to facilitate their work, hindering their ability to get capacity and to properly understand and exchange risk,” the spokesperson said. “This is in part because legacy carriers have been slow to embrace a data-driven, digital-first approach.”
Accelerant is aiming to use its technology and data to ensure its members can serve their niche small business customers, while making this process more efficient and transparent. In the future, the company said it wants to build upon its success in the SME space as it has identified issues that are mirrored in other markets, although it could not disclose details at this time.
Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners) served as exclusive advisor to Accelerant and its board of directors, and Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal counsel for the latest funding round.