AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
Cover Whale | March 02, 2023
On March 1, 2023, Devron, a pioneer in artificial intelligence and machine learning for distributed and private data, announced its cooperation with Cover Whale Insurance Solutions, Inc., a top commercial trucking insurer and a rapidly expanding insurtech.
Using Devron's federated data science platform, Cover Whale will build and train AI models that can quickly add new and different data sources to estimate risk better, offer to coach drivers, and align premiums.
The Driver Safety Program offered by Cover Whale uses data science and AI to analyze risk and develop strategies to reduce it, making roads safer. The platform provided by Devron simplifies the process by enabling access to additional datasets and doing away with the requirement, cost, and privacy risk associated with relocating data. This federated method enables Cover Whale to design, train, and run more effective models to identify unsafe driving behaviors or circumstances more efficiently.
In the past, for businesses to extract, duplicate, and move large amounts of data to get insights, they were required to develop complicated infrastructures. Devron gets around this requirement, so Cover Whale can build and train machine learning models on datasets where they are already stored. These datasets may include, for example, claims information, various vehicle telematics, external data related to highways, weather conditions, and other such information to acquire a more informed perspective on risk.
Cover Whale has commissioned Devron to speed up ongoing data science projects, lay the groundwork for the future development of its operations, and enable faster access to various data sources, formats, and types while producing richer insights with less effort.
About Cover Whale
Cover Whale is an insurtech founded by industry veterans and tech entrepreneurs that provides cutting-edge policies for commercial vehicles through AI, sophisticated underwriting, and extensive data integration. Coverage, telematics, dash cams, and real-time driver teaching are part of its innovative Driver Safety Program, which aims to reduce claims, improve road safety, and save lives in the United States. The company also provides over 5,000 agencies with the quickest and most user-friendly online quote system.
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RISK MANAGEMENT, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | March 30, 2023
Acquis, Europe's leading provider of specialist insurance programs to the asset finance market, today announced it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by NSM Insurance Group, a global leader in specialty insurance with more than $1.5B in premium across 25+ niche insurance programs. For over 30 years, NSM has specialized in investing in a broad portfolio of insurance companies in the U.S. and Europe.
Acquis went through an MBO process in 2019 when they were backed by specialist private equity investor Dunedin LLP. Subsequently, Acquis was able to accelerate its growth plans, tripling the size of its workforce, acquiring 46 customers, launching 50 additional insurance programs and increasing turnover by 47 percent within three years. This new investment will ensure Acquis is well placed to achieve its growth ambitions, expanding its solutions and services in existing and new territories.
"This investment from NSM Insurance Group marks a significant opportunity for Acquis to meet the increased demand we are witnessing for our products, and to continue to develop our market-leading insurance solutions for the asset finance market," said Nick Leader, Acquis CEO. "NSM is a perfect fit for Acquis, they understand our market and are as ambitious about our growth potential as we are. This deal will enable the continued development of our people, processes and systems and will allow us to galvanize our growth plans. NSM's confidence in Acquis is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team in building the company we are today."
Geof McKernan, CEO and Founder of NSM Insurance Group, added: "We are entrepreneurs at heart and we seize compelling opportunities to partner with high-performing companies with significant growth opportunity. We are excited to further expand in Europe and the U.S. with the acquisition of Acquis — the leader in innovative solutions for the finance and leasing industry. We look forward to partnering with Nick and his team and providing them with our state-of-the-art resources and capacity to help take their business to new heights."
The closing is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
About NSM Insurance Group
NSM Insurance Group is the nation's leading specialty insurance provider, exclusively focused on building successful insurance programs. For more than 30 years, NSM has been committed to delivering industry-specific insurance programs that help agents meet the unique needs of their customers and fuel market growth through innovative development, underwriting, distribution and claims expertise. The company has built more than $1.5 billion in premium across 25+ specialty insurance programs and brands in the U.S. and U.K. focused on collector cars; pets; social services and behavioral health; addiction treatment; coastal condominiums; towing and garage; trucking; sports and fitness; professional liability for contractors, architects and engineers; habitational; medical stop-loss; staffing; and workers' compensation. For more information on NSM, visit nsminc.com.
About Acquis
Acquis is the largest provider of specialist insurance programs for leased equipment in Europe. Leading asset finance brands and leasing companies across 16 European countries rely on Acquis' outsourced insurance solutions to enhance their asset finance offering, deliver customer value and increase revenue. For more information, visit acquisinsurance.com
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CORE INSURANCE, RISK MANAGEMENT
PRnewswire | April 13, 2023
Vouch, the insurance of tech, today announced its first embedded insurance API partnership with StartupOS, the platform that helps founders grow their startups with essential tools, expert guidance, and a community of mentors, investors, and partners. StartupOS users can now get quotes for General Liability and Business Property insurance coverages from Vouch directly from the StartupOS platform. Additionally, the platform will host free risk management training modules from Vouch that are designed specifically for early-stage founders. The partnership underscores both companies' commitment to serving early-stage founders and to helping them protect their companies from the beginning.
"Two-thirds of founders get business insurance at company formation, but zero percent of first-time founders do. When it comes to insurance, there's both an awareness and a trust gap that leaves many early-stage startups under-covered and vulnerable," said Travis Hedge, Co-founder and CRO, Vouch. "With embedded insurance from Vouch, companies on the StartupOS platform can work directly within the platform they already use to get educated on the coverages that are essential to their business, get quotes, and work with Vouch to seamlessly complete the process of purchasing insurance."
Vouch's API allows partners like StartupOS to take advantage of Vouch's core underwriting functionality through an integration that is easy to implement and maintain. The API allows partners to offer materially better experiences to their users so that buying insurance feels like a native part of their platform.
"We're thrilled to partner with Vouch to provide business insurance training and insurance products directly through our platform," said Jeff Wagner, Chief Platform Officer at StartupOS. "Through our collaboration and API integration, we are ensuring that our startups have access to the best insurance products tailored to their needs. This partnership is a significant step forward in our commitment to providing startup founders with the most innovative and comprehensive solutions to support their growth. We are excited about the value this will bring to our founders and look forward to a successful partnership with Vouch."
About Vouch
Vouch is a US-based provider of business insurance to thousands of high-growth companies that has raised $160 million from top-tier Silicon Valley institutions and investors including Ribbit Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Y Combinator, and Index Ventures. Since its inception in 2018, the company has empowered clients to get risk management right through niche expertise, a proprietary approach to pricing and underwriting, fast, digital-first procurement and coverages that scale as the company grows.
As 'The Insurance of Tech', Vouch believes it's their responsibility to deliver effective and affordable insurance solutions to innovators in emerging categories. These entrepreneurs are making huge bets on the future, and it's Vouch's job to insure away the risks that are incidental to their vision. Today that means launching protection for Web3. Tomorrow, it could be Climate, or Space. Wherever the next generation of founders goes, Vouch will be there to protect them.
About StartupOS
StartupOS is a platform that elevates startups with essential tools, expert guidance, and a supportive community of mentors, investors, and partners to help founders grow their startup. The platform aims to increase the overall number, confidence, and probability of long-term success for all founders, regardless of their background.
StartupOS offers a series of learn-by-doing activities to equip founders with all the resources and knowledge they need to build their startup from the ground up, making it the perfect platform for validating ideas, building an MVP, achieving product market fit, and pitching to investors. Paired with a vast community of mentors and investors, StartupOS provides access to invaluable startup knowledge and resources that are essential to every founder's journey. The platform also offers access to an extensive Partner Ecosystem loaded with top-tier solutions and services to streamline and simplify a founder's back-office operational needs.
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