MS&AD invests in insurtech Accelerant at $2bn valuation to accelerate expansion

Insurtech Accelerant, a provider of data analytics and risk exchange, has secured growth funding in excess of $190 million from a group of investors including the venture capital arm of Japan's MS&AD Insurance Group to fuel its expansion into new lines of insurance.

Accelerant plans to deploy the capital to “rebuild the way that underwriters share and exchange risk” in order to improve outcomes for programme managers, primary issuing carriers, and ultimate risk-bearers.

The funding was led by Eldridge, with participation from Deer Park, Marshall Wace, MS&AD Ventures, and others at a $2 billion pre-money valuation. Existing majority investor Altamont Capital Partners also participated in the round.

The company believes that historically underwriting teams supporting complex or niche lines of business have lacked the modern solutions needed to facilitate their work, which has hindered their ability to get capacity and to properly understand and exchange risk.

Accelerant specialises in serving a “carefully selected and managed” network of managing general underwriters (MGU) and programme administrators (PA).

Its data platform helps members MGUs and PA understand risk, benefit from insights, and handle operational and regulatory complexity. Together, Accelerant works with its members to drive profitable growth, focusing on the small and medium-sized businesses.

Jeff Radke (pictured), CEO and co-founder of Accelerant, said: “Aspects of the insurance industry have been broken for a long time. At Accelerant our approach is pretty simple... We're bringing transparency, data, and shared incentives back into the equation, serving MGUs as important partners in the insurance ecosystem, and overall making it easier and more efficient to exchange risk.

“We look forward to working with new partners to apply our differentiated approach and technology to lines of insurance beyond SME within which we can have an equally significant impact.”

Todd Boehly, co-founder and CEO of Eldridge, commented: “With cutting-edge data and analytic capabilities, Accelerant’s platform eliminates bureaucracy to offer an experience that prioritises velocity and collaboration.”

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