A Tampa insurance technology company founded by a local tech titan is making waves three months after receiving $100 million.
Bruce Lucas, the founder of publicly traded Heritage Insurance, raised $100 million in November for his then yet-to-be-launched company, Slide. The insurance tech company, founded in September 2021, launched to the public this quarter.
The company announced Tuesday it acquired $400 million in premiums from Orlando-based St. Johns Insurance Co. The deal allows Slide to provide coverage to 150,000 policyholders and access to 2,700 agents in Florida and South Carolina, where St. Johns has a significant presence.
Slide is a full-stack provider that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and data to let users choose their coverage for budgets and unique needs. According to the company, it has $400 million in annual revenue.
“I have done a lot of very successful deals in my career, but I have never been able to process millions of data points at this speed,” Lucas said in a statement. “I don’t think there is another insurtech that could have analyzed and closed this complex transaction, let alone at this speed.”
Lucas’ past company completed many acquisitions, growing to 1.1 billion premiums across 15 states.
“I know the market and know the economics, and I know how to grow quickly and quietly,” Lucas said in a previous interview with the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
He added Heritage Insurance raised $60 million shortly after launching and did not seek further funding until its IPO. “I don’t know if we’ll get there that fast, but we want to heavily explore an IPO at year two and three,” he said. “If the market conditions are there, that’s our plan is to take the company public.”
