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Insurtech firm raises $100M in venture funding

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Corvus

Insurtech firm Corvus Insurance Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it has secured $100 million in venture funding.

The Boston-based managing general underwriter said the round is led by New York-based Insight Venture Management LLC, which does business as Insight Partners, in addition to participation from existing investors.

The latest cash injection brings the total amount raised since its 2017 founding to $147 million, Corvus said in a statement.

Corvus plans to use the funds to grow its workforce and expand into new lines of commercial insurance.

In addition to cyber liability, Corvus currently offers cargo insurance and technology errors and omissions liability coverage.

Corvus founder and CEO Phil Edmundson said in an interview that the MGU plans to double its headcount this year, with an emphasis on data scientists and machine learning experts. It started the year with 125 staff, currently employs 140, and expects to reach a headcount of 260 by year-end, he said.

The MGU will launch a financial institutions coverage in the next quarter, providing directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions coverage, employment practices liability and cyber coverage with up to $5 million in limits per policy.

“More than 80% of our business is cyber so we tend to focus on that, but we use the same technology playbook to access other unique datasets that allow us to have insights into the underwriting, sales and risk management for other commercial lines,” Mr. Edmundson said.

The MGU is also looking to expand overseas next year and is targeting major economies including countries in Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia, he said.

The price of cyber insurance is increasing and awareness of cyber risk and the need for greater amounts of coverage is growing, due to increasing claims and because of COVID-19 and greater working from home, Mr. Edmundson said. “It’s a growth market,” he said.

Corvus utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze unique and proprietary sets of data to better predict and prevent loss, he said.

The MGU saw gross written premium growth of 250% in 2020 and it ended January with a $120 million annual premium run rate with an average policy size of $9,000, the statement said.

As part of the deal, Insight Partners’ managing director Deven Parekh will join the Corvus board of directors, and principal David Spiro will join as a board observer, Corvus said in the statement.