CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Insureon, one of America’s fastest-growing private companies and America’s premier online provider of small business insurance, today announced $31 million in new funding led by Oak HC/FT, a leading venture capital fund investing in financial technology companies. Also participating in the round was Accretive, a leading private investment firm specializing in the creation of disruptive technology companies, which built Insureon and led the company’s previous rounds of financing.
The financing will enable Insureon to increase its technology development and enhance its sales and marketing activities targeting small businesses, which employ more than 50% of the U.S. workforce yet often lack the tools, resources and scale of larger companies to acquire commercial business insurance and employer insurance.
The Chicago-based company’s technology and online marketplace platform enable small companies to navigate the complex process of researching, buying and managing their policies directly with leading U.S. carriers. Since launching in 2011, Insureon has helped insure more than 175,000 small businesses. There are more than 25 million small companies in the U.S., according to the Small Business Administration.
"We are excited to leverage Oak HC/FT’s significant resources and expertise as we pursue this massive and underpenetrated market opportunity,” said Insureon CEO Ted Devine. “The Oak HC/FT team has a peerless track record of backing leaders in FinTech, and accessing their strong network and industry insights will become an important advantage for our organization going forward.”
Patricia Kemp, general partner at Oak HC/FT, added, “Technology and innovation are bringing important change to the insurance sector, and Insureon is leading this effort for small businesses. We look forward to enhancing Insureon’s dominant position in the marketplace and to supporting their management’s efforts to create and capture opportunities for accelerated growth.”
Edgar Bronfman Jr., managing partner of Accretive and Chairman of Insureon’s Board of Directors added, “We wanted a complementary partner with deep experience scaling FinTech and Internet companies. We couldn’t be happier with this outcome and look forward to partnering with the Oak HC/FT team during this next chapter of Insureon’s growth.”
Small business insurance is benefiting from significant investment in technology and innovation, following the online and direct channels pioneered in the automotive and life insurance segments. Historically, small business insurance has been sold directly through agents and brokers with limited innovation or reach to entrepreneurs and home-based business owners.
Insureon’s online marketplace platform provides a one-stop insurance solution for all small businesses. The company’s three-year growth has exceeded 1,700%, ranking Insureon #259 among the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. Insureon ranks #3 among top insurance companies and #10 among top Illinois companies, also according to the Inc. list.
Ms. Kemp will join the Insureon Board of Directors to provide senior counsel to the company’s leadership team, which includes a deep bench of insurance, IT and investment professionals. Mr. Devine, who has led the company as CEO since 2011, is former president of Aon Risk Services. He was previously CEO of Aon Re and a senior partner and director of McKinsey & Company, where he was a leader of its North American Insurance Practice and North American Insurance Operations and Technology efforts.
Financial Technology Partners LP and FTP Securities LLC (together "FT Partners") served as exclusive strategic and financial advisors and Greenberg Traurig, P.A. served as legal advisor to Insureon in this transaction.
About Insureon
Insureon has provided coverage for more than 175,000 small businesses. It both serves retail clients directly and supports leading top-five banks, brokerages, and insurance companies in delivering their small commercial business insurance, placing more than $200 million in premium annually. Details about its innovative online application, technology, and business model are available at www.insureon.com.
About Oak HC/FT
Oak HC/FT (http://oakhcft.com/) is the premier venture growth-equity fund investing in Healthcare Information & Services (“HC”) and Financial Services Technology (“FT”). The firm is focused on driving transformation in these industries by providing entrepreneurs and companies with strategic counsel, board-level participation, business plan execution and access to our extensive network of industry leaders.
About Accretive
Accretive is a unique private investment firm with a distinctive track record of creating and funding disruptive technology companies, such as Fandango, Accretive Health, Accolade and Insureon. The firm focuses on uncovering a root pain point for a set of customers and then aggressively backing a team of hand-picked executives to build a tech-enabled solution from the ground-up, or buying out and accelerating the growth of a like-minded business.
