“Post-Close”, CoverWallet will be known as CoverWallet, an Aon Company
The “Sobering of Insurtech” continues with another insurtech start-up being welcomed into the traditional insurance “fold”. Aon, the global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, reinsurance, retirement, and health solutions announced today that it has acquired the small commercial insurtech CoverWallet.
“We are excited to combine Aon’s expertise in data and analytics and global distribution with CoverWallet’s market-defining platform to create new sources of value for our clients,” said Greg Case, CEO of Aon. “CoverWallet’s culture of innovation is transforming the insurance landscape, and together we have the opportunity to further strengthen and expand the application of their digital client experience.”
Founded in 2015 by Inaki Berenguer and Rashmi Melgiri, CoverWallet officially launched in 2016. The insurtech has grown quickly over the past four years to now boast more than 300 employees in offices located in New York City, Rochester, NY, and Spain. The platform, which was built on the Salesforce network, originally began selling small commercial insurance directly to insureds. Over the last couple of years, however, it has diversified its offerings through strategic partnerships with top insurance companies including Chubb, CNA, Progressive, Starr, AIG, Zurich, The Hanover, Hiscox, Liberty Mutual, and AmTrust. In June of 2018, Zurich acquired a minority stake in the start-up, along with other investors such as Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Two Sigma, Foundation Capital, and Starr Companies. In total, the insurtech received over $35 million in funding since its official launch.
In an acknowledgment that perhaps not all small businesses wanted to avoid the independent agent, in December 2018, the company debuted CoverWallet for Agents, a dedicated website offering independent insurance agents an easy and effective way in which to sell small commercial insurance.
The deal is expected to close in the First Quarter of 2020
According to the terms of the transaction, the transaction will likely close in the first quarter of 2020. After the completion of the transaction, CoverWallet will officially join Aon’s New Ventures Group. As mentioned above, henceforth CoverWallet will be known as CoverWallet, an Aon company. Earlier this year, the two entities announced a partnership that saw them launch a pilot project in Australia, which eventually expanded to the U.S.
Other terms of the transaction, such as the acquisition price or whether or not co-founders will continue on after the sale, were not disclosed. This is actually the third exit for Mr. Berenguer. Born in Spain, Mr. Berenguer has founded three different companies all of which have been acquired, Pixable founded the companies Pixable (acquired by SingTel), Klink (acquired by Thinkingphones) and now CoverWallet.
“We started CoverWallet to reinvent commercial insurance. By building our customer-centric platform and leveraging advanced data science, beautiful design, and state-of-the-art technology, we have been able to simplify insurance,” said Inaki Berenguer, CEO, and Co-Founder of CoverWallet. “Aon’s shared vision means we can continue pushing the boundaries of innovation into new markets and new products at a greater scale.”
As for Aon, their decision to acquired CoverWallet seems clear. As many large insurers find it difficult to innovate from the inside, acquiring CoverWallet’s technological infrastructure offers Aon to act with both agility and efficiency within the 200+ billion premium digital insurance market for small and medium-sized businesses.
For those interested in learning more about CoverWallet, please refer to Agency Checklists two interviews with Inaki Berenguer, the July 24, 2018 article entitled “Covering All the Bases With New Commercial Lines Insurtech Start-up CoverWallet” and our December 4, 2018 interview “CoverWallet For Agents: Quote, Bind, Buy, & Sign Commercial Lines Policies In Minutes”.
