Goldman Sachs backs US insurance broker Newfront at $2.2bn valuation

San Francisco-headquartered Insurance broker Newfront has secured its latest funding from Goldman Sachs, B Capital, and other investors at a valuation of $2.2 billion.

The company has raised $200 million to accelerate the development of its technology and expand across the US.

The financing follows the merger of Newfront and ABD, which occurred in August 2021.

Newfront co-founder and CEO Spike Lipkin (pictured) said: "The nature of risk has changed drastically over the past century but the insurance industry has not modernized to meet these new challenges. This investment furthers Newfront's commitment to building the modern platform for clients, insurance professionals, and trading partners."

Paul Pate, vice president within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said: "We see modern, full-stack platforms transforming large parts of financial services, and we believe Newfront's marriage of technology, people, and domain expertise represents the future of the insurance industry."

Matt Levinson, partner at B Capital, added: "Newfront has a unique opportunity to achieve this as the sole modern insurance and benefits broker. Fundamentally, Spike and the team understand that enterprises will always want to work with a human broker, as their needs are nuanced and policies don't fit a template.

“What the industry really needs is the 'bionic broker' - the most talented brokers in the country powered by the best technology stack. As Newfront continues to build an important distribution channel, we believe they will have opportunities to innovate up and down the insurance stack – across product, capital, claims, and risk management."

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