Penn-America Underwriters acquires Sayata

Penn-America Underwriters, a subsidiary of GBLI , has acquired Sayata , a digital distribution marketplace for commercial insurance.

Founded in 2016, Sayata has raised $58.5 million across three funding rounds, backed by investors including Elron Electronic Industries, Kamet Ventures, OurCrowd, Team8 Capital, Vertex Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital, Hanaco Venture Capital, and Enron Ventures. Despite this, Sayata has reduced its workforce by nearly 50% in the past two years.

The deal comes as other insurtech distribution platforms have faced mixed outcomes. At-Bay acquired Relay in 2022 only to shut it down last year, citing a shift back to its core cyber and insurance business. Similarly, Coalition acquired Attune in October 2021, a joint venture between AIG, Hamilton, and Two Sigma IQ, but later sold it to Pinnacol Assurance in 2023.

“The acquisition of Sayata directly supports our strategy to deliver faster, smarter distribution solutions for specialty insurance and new products. We are excited to welcome the Sayata team, and to invest and grow the business.” – Praveen K. Reddy, President and CEO of PAU.