Global insurance technology industry attracts record $15.8bn funding in 2021

The sector attracted more annual capital inflow last year than in 2020 and 2019 combined, says Gallagher Re

About $9.4 billion was invested into property and casualty InsurTechs last year, with the remaining $6.4bn directed into life and health companies, said Gallagher Re. Photo: The National

Global investment in the insurance technology sector hit $15.8 billion in 2021, an all-time high, a new report has shown.

The sector attracted more capital inflow last year than in 2020 and 2019 combined, the report compiled by reinsurance broker Gallagher Re showed. The sector also registered a record 564 InsurTech deals last year, the report said.

“An incredible upwards trajectory of global InsurTech funding has occurred during the past nine years after we started tracking it in 2012, culminating in the record-breaking $15.8bn total for 2021,” said Andrew Johnston, global head of InsurTech at Gallagher Re.

“Since the first quarter of 2012 to the end of 2021, $41.65bn had been invested globally into InsurTechs across 2,249 deals in 63 countries.”

Current consumer adoption of InsurTech in the Middle East and North Africa region stands at 8 per cent. However, planned use of the sector's services in the future stands at 48 per cent, data compiled by India-based research company Redseer showed.

The global InsurTech market size is expected to reach $152.43bn by 2030, registering a compound annual growth rate of 51.7 per cent from 2022 to 2030, said a report by Research and Markets.

The rising awareness about the benefits of InsurTech solutions in simplifying the claim process, improving communication, and applying automation is expected to drive market growth, the report added.

About $9.4bn was invested into property and casualty InsurTechs last year, with the remaining $6.4bn directed into life and health companies, said Gallagher Re.

The rise in funding in the final quarter of last year was driven by 13 “mega-round” deals, which accounted for 71 per cent of the $5.3bn invested during that period, the report said.

“InsurTech investment growth over the past decade has been incredibly impressive and there’s no slowing down for the time being, with the first quarter of 2022 recording $2.2bn worldwide,” Mr Johnston said.

“While [accounting for] only 43 per cent of the total global investment recorded when compared with the prior quarter, Q1 2022 saw parity between quarters in terms of total deal flow, with 143 deals recorded.”

Although there were only five mega-rounds in the first quarter of 2022, it recorded the highest participation of early-stage investment, with $660 million invested into InsurTechs globally at their earliest stages, Gallagher Re said.

While the US dominated with a 47 per cent share of 67 global InsurTech deals, 31 countries participated in global InsurTech investment.

There were five mega rounds this quarter. Total mega round-related investment totalled $664m, representing 30 per cent of all capital invested in the first quarter of 2022, according to Gallagher Re.

At the end of last year, the US had more InsurTech investment — both in terms of cash and deal count — than 60 countries combined, said the report.

“In absolute terms, the $15.8bn invested in 2021 is a big number, but if you look at it as a share of global venture funding, the sector is underinvested relative to its share of gross domestic product,” Jonathan Hendrickson, vice president and head of InsurTech development at Gallagher, said.