Munich Re leads investment in insurtech firm Next

Insurtech start-up Next has raised $29 million in a Series A funding round led by Munich Re, through its venture capital arm HSB Ventures, along with Markel, Nationwide, and other investors.

The funding will be used to further build insurance products targeting small to medium businesses and expand Next's offering to new business sectors, the company said.

Munich Re announced partnership with the California-based online insurance firm in December 2016. The German insurer is actively investing in technology to generate growth.

Jacqueline LeSage Krause, managing director of Munich Re/HSB Corporate Ventures, said: "Insurance is changing to meet the needs of micro businesses. Next is a leader in using new technologies, combined with a deep knowledge of clients’ unique needs, to precisely tailor insurance solutions, simply and easily."

Guy Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of Next, commented: "The small business sector is vast and extremely varied, yet the small business insurance market is digitally underserved. This is especially true for independent business owners like photographers and personal trainers that we’re already serving.

"Next’s platform is able to overcome significant challenges by simplifying and expediting the insurance sign up and engagement process for the small business owner and channeling advanced data analytics to create policies that are tailored to the unique needs of different classes of business.

"Partnering with investors of this caliber will enable us to expand our activities faster and bring valuable products to a wider range of these types of business owners."

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