In May, Generali CEO Mario Greco warned that the insurance sector was “on the verge of a revolution.”
Because early-stage companies offer a sneak peek into where a market is going from a disruption and innovation perspective, we analyzed CB Insights data around how early-stage activity in the insurance tech market is trending. And according to the data, early-stage investment activity is booming, a signal that technological change is coming to the insurance industry.
Of note, funding to early-stage insurance tech startups (Seed/Series A) has topped over $350M this year through 10/22/15. That’s a 43% jump from all of 2014 and a 247% rise over 2013.
Early-stage deal count in 2015 year-to-date has also already topped 2014’s high.
US takes 3 of 4 early-stage insurance tech deals
74% of early-stage deals to insurance tech startups since 2011 have gone to US-based startups. Germany and the UK topped all international markets for early-stage insurance tech activity over the period, but the latter took just 3% of overall early-stage deals. Rob Moffat of UK-based Balderton Capital has blogged on the relative dearth of entrepreneurs taking on digital insurance.
Within the US, California takes half of all early-stage insurance tech deal activity since 2011, including deals to Hixme, Stride Health, and SimplyInsured among many others, followed by New York at 17%. Massachusetts early-stage rounds out the top 3 at 6%.
Early-stage deal sizes bump up
The median round size across all early-stage insurance tech deals bumped up to $2.3M in 2014 from $1.1M in 2011. In 2015 year-to-date, the median early-stage insurance tech deal size has stood at $2.1M.
Which startups are receiving early-stage funding?
Below is a cross-section of currently early-stage insurance tech startups. Health benefits tech is most prominent area for early-stage deal activity in insurance tech, but early-stage deals have also gone to SaaS products for insurance fraud, as well as usage-based insurance sensor tech, and insurance data analytics.
| Company | Description | Total Funding ($M) | Select Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
 (Clover Health) |
Analytics-driven health insurance model for Medicare Advantage members | $ 100.0 | First Round Capital, Athyrium Capital Management |
 (One) |
Integrated software for property & casualty insurers | $ 16.7 | AGI Partners, Camp One Ventures, H&Q Asia Pacific |
| Search and comparison engine for personal health insurance plans | $ 15.6 | Jeffrey Boyd, Robert Mylod Jr., Monster Venture Partners | |
 (Stride Health) |
Health insurance recommendation engine | $ 15.4 | F-Prime Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Venrock, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mayo Clinic, Mohr Davidow Ventures |
 (Lumity) |
Data-driven health benefits platform for small business employers | $ 14.0 | Social Capital, True Ventures, Rock Health |
 (Hixme) |
Tech-enabled private benefits exchange | $ 11.2 | Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers |
 (Censio) |
Smartphone-only usage-based insurance platform | $ 10.0 | Bain Capital Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Lakestar |
 (BeneStream) |
Software helping employers enroll workers in Medicaid | $ 9.6 | BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, Sandbox Advantage Fund, Kapor Capital, Relativity Healthcare Partners |
 (SimplyInsured) |
Health insurance marketplace for small businesses | $ 8.4 | AltaIR.VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, Corazon Capital, Polaris Partners, Y Combinator, Starling Partners |
 (Sherpaa Health) |
Virtual doctor and health insurance guide | $ 8.0 | Draper Associates, Softbank Capital, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, First Round Capital, Collaborative Fund, SV Angel |
 (QuanTemplate) |
Business intelligence and data management software for insurance firms | $ 8.0 | Allianz Digital Corporate Ventures, Anthemis Group, Route66 Ventures, Transamerica Ventures |
 (PolicyGenius) |
Online insurance brokerage for life, pet, renters, and long-term disability insurance | $ 6.0 | AXA Strategic Ventures, Karlin Ventures, Susa Ventures, Transamerica Ventures |
 (Eligible) |
Eligibility and payment APIs for medical services | $ 4.8 | Andreessen Horowitz, Rock Health, Deerfield Management, Y Combinator |
 (Limelight Health) |
Mobile quoting platform for health insurance agencies | $ 3.3 | AXA Strategic Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Launchpad Digital Health |
 (Shift Technology) |
SaaS designed to detect potential insurance fraud | $ 1.7 | Iris Capital, Elaia Partners |
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