Insurtech VC lands leading investor from AXIS/Swiss Re to scale business

Eos Venture Partners, a specialist venture capital fund focused exclusively on the insurtech sector, has hired a general partner from re/insurance group  AXIS Capital to help identify and invest in new businesses.

Zach Powell (pictured) has spent the majority of his career as a principal investor in the financial services sector with a focus on insurance. He joins from AXIS Capital, where he was managing director of AXIS Digital Ventures, the partnership and venture investing arm of the firm.

Prior to AXIS, Powell was a vice president at Swiss Re's Principal Investments focused on buyout and growth equity investments in financial services throughout the Americas. He started his career in investment banking advising insurance companies.

“Zach is one of the leading investors in the Insurtech sector and we are delighted to welcome him to our growing team,” said Eos founding general partner Jonathan Kalman. “The insurance industry is on the cusp of fundamental digital disruption and Zach will play a leading role to identify and invest in the brightest and the best of these new businesses."

Kalman added: " Eos intends to positively impact the lives of over half a billion people over the next decade. We believe that closing the protection gap is our biggest opportunity, making insurance better, more affordable and accessible.”

Powell commented: “I am excited to join Eos as the company expands the business to continue to capitalise on insurtech investment opportunities around the world. Eos is a unique venture capital fund that combines deep understanding of the insurtech sector with sophisticated knowledge of the insurance value chain. Eos has a strong track record of backing leading insurtech entrepreneurs and supporting them as the businesses scale.”

Eos was founded in 2016 with the aim to bridge the ‘digital chasm’ between insurtechs and traditional insurance and reinsurance companies. Eos believes that insurance technology can help close the global protection gap by making insurance affordable to those who currently do not buy it.

Eos has offices in London and New York, and affiliates in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Powell will be based in Southern California.

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