Eos Venture Partners (Eos), a specialist venture capital investor in insurance technology (InsurTech), is to raise a USD100 million debut fund, EVP I.
The fund will be one of the first global, independent InsurTech investment funds targeting early and growth stage investments.
Eos was formed in 2016 and has made eight InsurTech investments, with six going on to successfully raise up-rounds. Notable investments include Neos, a connected home insurance proposition, which raised USD7m from Aviva and Munich Re, and Digital Fineprint, a business that uses social media to enhance the insurance process, which raised USD2.7 million from PenTech Ventures.
Eos has three General Partners: Sam Evans, Jonathan Kalman and Carl-Georg Bauer-Schlichtegroll. Carl was previously Head of the Financial Institutions Group at JP Morgan and Credit Suisse, Sam was previously Head of the Insurance Deal Advisory Practice at KPMG and Jonathan is an experienced VC investor with multiple successful exits. The firm currently has offices in London and Philadelphia, and this year will launch an InsurTech innovation centre in India.
Evans says: “InsurTech is one of the fastest growing investment sectors globally and is a compelling space in which to invest. There are tremendous opportunities to drive innovation and Eos is positioned at the heart of this new and exciting sector. The global insurance industry is facing an unprecedented period of change that will see a trillion-dollar value shift between winners and losers.”
Eos also announced a Limited Partner (LP) commitment of USD20 million in EVP I from a global insurer, with whom it has entered into a strategic partnership to accelerate their innovation strategy, and a second USD10 million commitment from a European insurer.
Evans adds: “We are delighted to have secured two commitments and to have our lead investor in place. We are already working with our LP’s to help them harness the potential of InsurTech to supercharge their business.”
The core of Eos’ business model is close strategic partnerships with their LPs to drive return on investment and innovation. Eos works closely with its LP’s to develop, refine and execute a tailored innovation strategy to drive growth, improve profitability and enhance customer propositions.
Bauer says: “We provide our LP’s with strategic and financial exposure to key developments in InsurTech. They can leverage their relationship with Eos to extend the reach, capabilities and experience of their team to help drive forward key innovation related projects.”
