Business as Usual

Munich Re first invested in Next Insurance in 2017. The then-agency raised $35 million in a Series A. That’s a big number for a digital broker focused on small commercial. For context: Insureon, a competitor at the time, raised $31 million total.

But Next made a promise: it wouldn’t just be a broker. It would become a full-stack carrier.

Who makes the promise matters. This one came from Guy Goldstein, Nissim Tapiro, and Alon Huri—the founding team behind Check, acquired by Intuit for $360 million. They considered healthcare, real estate, and insurance but weren’t chasing a specific idea.

Insurance came out on top, and the money wasn’t far behind.

The standout funding story involves Zeev Ventures. Founded in 2007 by Oren Zeev, the firm manages over $2 billion. The founders approached Zeev expecting a polite rejection—and maybe some feedback. Goldstein, who knew him from their Pageonce days (later rebranded to Check), reached out anyway.

Instead, Zeev immediately said yes. Goldstein called the team on a Saturday. By Sunday, the money was in the bank.

That was Next’s first advantage: access to capital.

For Zeev, it wasn’t a tough call. As he explained in a 2022 podcast, the insurance industry in 2016 looked like it hadn’t changed in decades—still dominated by agents, still largely analog. He saw a proven team with an unproven idea and unlimited potential.

The second advantage? Access to agents—despite everything you just read.

Next Insurance is currently appointed with over 1,000 independent agencies in the US—a process that began in 2020 with the onboarding of London Underwriters, Appalachian Underwriters, First Connect, and three others. The pace picked up in 2022–2023, during which the company appointed what now accounts for 80% of its agency force. Since then, agency appointments have slowed significantly, with only around 100 new appointments in the past year. Its most recent appointment was with Mountain West Insurance & Financial Services.

With 100 agency appointments, Next reported $297 million in direct premiums written (DPW) in 2021 across its own paper and State National’s. By the time it reached 500 agencies, DPW grew ~50% to $438 million in 2022. Today, with over 1,000 agencies—more than Next’s total employee count (~700)—premiums haven’t doubled. Scaling in small business insurance remains a myth.

Next Insurance proved $1.15 billion in funding can get you to the same level as Hiscox – a US entrant as of 2011. And if there’s one thing to note about replicas: if there’s one, there are others – see biBerk. 

Munich Re Ventures’ 2017 Investment Activity

In the early days, Munich Re bet on on-demand, micro, and mobile-first insurance models—often without a proven foundation—simply because the grass looked greener. Today, we’ve covered their exit from relayr, an IIoT company it invested in and acquired in 2018 at a $300 million valuation, citing “the strategic realignment of Munich Re’s innovation strategy.”

Bottom Line: Munich Re can go all in—and then go all out. So personal gains aside, this is business as usual.