The whopping leap in valuation came in just six months.

Digital insurtech Next Insurance, which focuses on insurance for small businesses and the self-employed, raised $250 million in a round led by FinTLV Ventures and Battery Ventures with participation from CapitalG, Group 11, Zeev Ventures, Founders Circle, and G Squared. This funding was the startup’s second within the space of just seven months, bringing up its total amount raised to over $881 million. (CISION PR Newswire)

Next provides 100% online insurance solutions covering general liability, workers’ compensation, professional liability/E&O, commercial auto, and tools & equipment. It specializes in small businesses and now has a customer base of over 200,000.

Technology-driven insurance

Its use of technologies such as AI and machine learning results in a cost advantage of over 30% compared to legacy insurance providers.

“Next Insurance’s full-stack approach to providing coverage for small businesses has created a radical paradigm shift in the legacy insurance industry,” said Gil Arazi, founder and managing partner at FinTLV Ventures. “This value proposition, combined with a differentiated focus on machine learning and growing an innovative product portfolio has created unstoppable momentum that is undoubtedly changing how small businesses shop and purchase insurance.”

Solid growth

In the last six months, Next has doubled its gross written premium. During 2020, which it describes as a “record year,” the company:

• Increased the number of customers holding more than one policy by 10x
• Tripled the amount of premium written by agent partners
• Hired 180 new employees
• Hit over $1 million in written premium in a single day for the first time ever
• Was named a small business insurance provider for Amazon’s Business Prime small business customers

“Next Insurance is modernizing insurance coverage and the customer experience by creating greater access to digital coverage and reinventing the way policies are designed, sold, and purchased for everyday small business owners,” said Michael Brown, general partner at Battery Ventures.

Strategic acquisitions

Over the last six months, the company acquired AP Intego, a digital insurance agency, with partnerships with some of the largest small business software ecosystems in the U.S., including Intuit, Gusto, Square, and Toast.

It also acquired Juniper Labs, an innovative provider of alternative open data and underwriting technology, to accelerate the development of enhanced machine-learning capabilities.

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