Gallagher Re publishes insurtech report for Q2 2024

Gallagher Re publishes insurtech report for Q2 2024 | Insurance Business Canada

Reinsurance

Gallagher Re publishes insurtech report for Q2 2024

The tide has turned for the industry

Reinsurance

By
Kenneth Araullo

Insurtech funding experienced a notable increase in the second quarter of 2024, with global investments reaching $1.27 billion, the highest level since the first quarter of 2023. Early-stage insurtech funding also saw a rise, totaling $377.60 million, the largest amount since Q1 2023. The average deal size rose to $18.46 million, the highest since Q3 2022.

Despite the increase in funding, the overall number of insurtech deals dropped to 82, marking the lowest quarterly count since Q2 2020. According to insights from Gallagher Re, one-third of the deals in Q2 2024 involved AI-centered InsurTechs, while 40% focused on risk-related technologies.

In the first quarter of 2024, there was a downturn in global insurtech investments. However, there remained a strong industry focus on supporting technology businesses. Although cash valuations for insurtechs were down, there was an increase in the number of transactions, particularly those involving funds associated with re/insurers.

Gallagher Re noted that the lack of mega-round deals in Q1 led to lower overall totals, with the median average deal size clustering around $10 million. This indicated more realistic valuations and a more democratized distribution of investor capital. The first half of 2024 continued this trend, with only one mega-round deal, contributing to an H1 2024 total of $2.186 billion, just $119 million shy of the $2.305 billion recorded in H1 2023.

The increase in average deal sizes in Q2 2024, nearly doubling from $9.81 million in Q1 to $18.46 million, was highlighted by Sidecar Health’s $165 million Series D round, the quarter’s only $100 million+ mega-round deal. This made Q2 2024 the highest funding quarter since Q1 2023.

However, the deal count declined by 23.4%, from 107 in Q1 to 82 in Q2. This decline was consistent across both property and casualty (P&C) and life and health (L&H) sectors, with P&C deals dropping from 70 to 54 and L&H from 37 to 28. The quarterly deal count had not been this low since Q2 2020, which saw 74 deals.

Early-stage deal sizes reached their highest level since Q1 2022, rising 77.8% quarter-on-quarter to $8.58 million. However, the number of early-stage deals fell by 21.9% to 50, the lowest since Q4 2020.

This decline was primarily due to a decrease in seed-stage deals, which dropped from 45 in Q1 to 29 in Q2. Despite this, seed-stage deals accounted for 35.4% of Q2 transactions, close to the long-term average of 37.3% in InsurTech, according to Gallagher Re.

P&C insurtech funding increased from $605.58 million in Q1 to $853.92 million in Q2, with the average deal size reaching $19.41 million, the highest since Q3 2022. L&H insurtech funding also grew, reaching $420.16 million in Q2, the highest since Q1 2023, with an average deal size of $16.81 million, the highest since Q2 2022.

AI-centered insurtechs attracted $445.81 million in funding across 27 deals, representing a third of the total deals in Q2. Notably, 17 of these AI-centered deals were early-stage investments, though they were smaller on average compared to non-AI-focused companies.

This was a shift from Q1, where AI insurtechs had secured on average 20% more capital than their non-AI counterparts. Historically, from 2012 through this quarter, about 16% of all insurtech investment capital has been directed toward AI-oriented firms, totaling approximately $9.6 billion.

In Q2, 33 insurtech deals focused on risk origination, pricing, underwriting, or portfolio optimization, raising a collective $742.45 million. The average deal size for this category was $23.95 million, 29.7% higher than the overall InsurTech average.

Notable deals included Sidecar Health’s $165 million Series D, ICEYE’s $93 million Series D, Cover Genius’s $80 million Series E, and Honey Insurance’s $71 million Series A.

Gallagher Re reported 33 tech investments by (re)insurers in Q2, with 54.6% directed toward US-based companies. Early-stage investments made up 57.6% of these, including eight seed/angel-stage and 11 Series A investments.

The Blue Venture Fund, the corporate venture arm of Blue Cross Blue Shield, and MassMutual and MassMutual Ventures were notable contributors to corporate venture activity, each making four investments in Q2.

Key partnerships in Q2 included Allianz with ClearSpeed, Hartford Steam Boiler with WINT, and MassMutual with Genomics, reflecting ongoing collaboration between insurers and technology companies.

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