D.C. and Denver-based insurance startup Pie Insurance has locked down $118 million in fresh funding.
Investors Allianz X and Acrew Capital led the round, which included existing investors Greycroft, SVB Capital, SiriusPoint, Elefund, and Moxley Holdings. The latest raise brings the startup to more than $300 million since its 2017 founding. The company declined to disclose its valuation.
The startup had raised $127 million in May 2020, of which $27 million went to the startup and another $100 million went to form a new affiliated company — Pie Carrier Holdings — which creates and purchases licensed insurance companies that Pie will use to issue a portion of its own policies.
Pie leans heavily on data analytics and eschews the traditional model of a human underwriter to help streamline and digitize its offerings, which it says keeps its costs down and is key to upending the competition. According to Pie’s own analysis, 80% of small businesses overpay for workers' compensation coverage, often by as much as 30%.
The new investment will also lay the groundwork for new offerings in 2021 and beyond, Pie Insurance said in an announcement. Its core business is workers' comp.
"Commercial insurance is long overdue for the online transformation that personal lines have benefited from for years," John Swigart, co-founder and CEO of Pie Insurance, said in the announcement.
Pie Insurance is building a modern and more affordable insurance experience, Swigart said, and the funding “will have an immediate impact on our customers and partners.”
Swigart has deep experience in the insurance industry, having served as the chief marketing officer and vice president of finance at San Francisco insurance company Esurance Insurance Services Inc., helping grow that brand to more than $1 billion in annual revenue. His co-founder at Pie Insurance, Dax Craig, is a serial entrepreneur with a background in technology and communications development and more recently was CEO of Valen Analytics, an advanced data firm for property and casualty insurance companies.
