Save the date + buckle up, IPOs are back

Today, you need to do 3 things.
All super simple.

1. Book a ticket.
2. Book a flight.
3. And if they’re already done, it’s time to secure your spot [at one of the most brilliant sessions at ITC Vegas 2025].

Across a ninety-minute innovation extravaganza we’ll be launching:

Signal50 — the top 50 emerging startups gaining traction
Scale50 — the top 50 established tech co’s delivering impact today

Time to get into some insurance innovation news from the past week or two.

📈 IPOs & Capital Markets – The Window’s Open (Again)

The IPO window is properly back.

In the space of a fortnight we’ve got Ethos and Exzeo filing, and Neptune Flood about to ring the bell. Three very different plays – life, infrastructure software, and parametric flood.

And they’re all testing public appetite at the same time. Love it.

Exciting, right? Or is it just me.

It feels like we’re about to tick into the upswing of the cycle.
Let’s see 😬

🩺 Breathing New Life

MetLife has picked up a 20% stake in Klimber, the LatAm insurtech.
A smart move into a region where life and health are still massively underserved. By the way, lots of LatAm chat in the upcoming Beyond Boundaries report. If you’re interested in the region, keep an eye out for that one.

Ambac is putting $250m down to acquire ArmadaCare, a supplemental health MGA.

Adds a neat string to the bow and pushes them deeper into the accident & health market. SiriusPoint will stick around as a capacity partner.

And over in Australia, St Andrew’s Insurance Group is taking over Aegon Insights – another step toward building a true domestic life-insurance champion. More scale, more reach, more relevance for customers.

Quick intro if you’re not familiar: St Andrew’s is an independent, Australian-owned life insurance group, backed by a consortium of leading family offices with significant capital behind it. Their focus is simple, sustainable protection products and innovative distribution models.

As part of their growth strategy, their CEO and a couple of execs will be in the US, before, during and after ITC – meeting with insurers, reinsurers, insurtechs, and distributors, with a particular focus on middle-market direct life.

If you’re working on something relevant, let me know and I’ll connect you.

🚗 From Motorways to Side Streets

Ageas has finally closed its £1.3bn acquisition of esure. Congrats to Ant and team.

They’re now a top-3 UK personal lines player overnight. I imagine plenty of opportunities on the table and a solid bet in a super competitive home/motor market.

Something different from NFP which has launched Conduzco Seguros – a Spanish-language cross-border auto product for US drivers heading into Mexico.

And lastly, Quandri’s new AI-powered requoting tool is live.

Agents who used to spend an hour re-shopping policies can now do it in minutes. Which is nice. Better retention, better service.

🏢 East, West & Everything In-Between

An interesting one from South Korea’s DB Insurance, which is buying Fortegra.

This is a big push into US/EU specialty, giving DB a global footprint and Fortegra some serious firepower. I’m keen to see more of this East-meets-West flow of capital.

CogniSure’s data extraction AI is now baked into Innoveo’s no-code platform. That means submissions in, insights out…in minutes. It’s the kind of plumbing work that quietly makes a huge difference.

Zurich NA has plugged in Nearmap’s AI aerial imagery. Underwriters now see roof scores and property insights straight in their workflow.

And Novacore has picked up Minglewood Risk, a habitational MGA out of Pennsylvania. The real play is NYC’s five boroughs. Niche, but dense and profitable if they get it right.

🔐 Liberty, Quantum and AI Risks

Just one from the world of cyber. An interesting one.

Liberty Mutual has gone all-in on a new global suite. Two shiny products covering everything from exec personal loss to quantum and AI risks. It’s these last two I think we’re going to see a lot of growth in.

🤖 Smarts, Speed & Scale

Sixfold – who you’ll hear more from at ITC Vegas – has just dropped a Referral Agent.

Instead of underwriters losing an hour cobbling together referral packets, they now hit send in a minute. And given ~40% of cases need referral, that’s a decent lift: faster turnarounds, happier brokers, and underwriters freed up to…underwrite.

Fast, clean, freelancer-friendly cover – and now more fuel to scale across Europe. Still one of the better insurtech growth stories in play.

–
Right, that is me done.

Hopefully I’ll see a bunch of you on the flight from Heathrow to Vegas. I’ll be coming via a weekend in Geneva (somewhat broken – off the back of my first Hyrox Pro 😬).

Whilst talking travel, from Vegas I’m completing my round the world trip, heading straight off to New Zealand for the Resonate ‘25 – Insurance Innovation Summit. And a catch-up with the Simfuni crew.

Really looking forward to this one.

Market Intelligence. Venture Clienting.

Sønr helps (re)insurers around the world explore market trends, track competitor activity, and scout and assess best-in-class tech companies.

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