The $100 million fund will invest in early stage insurtech startups.
UK-US fund Eos Venture Partners is expanding its business and is expected to invest tens of millions of dollars in Israel. The $100 million fund specializes in early-stage investments in insurtech startups.
Eos's investors are exclusively insurance companies and reinsurers. Its business model is based on cooperation with investors in order to ensure a return on the investment and to benefit from the innovation generated by its portfolio companies. Eos is currently meeting with Israeli insurance companies in order to include them as investors in the fund. Israeli insurance companies have hitherto made few venture capital investments. The fund is also considering co-investments with Israeli venture capital funds.
With the commencement of its business in Israel, Eos is adding Osnat Segev-Harel as an investment partner. With a background in banking and insurance, Segev-Harel is the owner of the Scale Up consultant firm, which advises companies now being founded, including their growth strategy.
Segev-Harel told "Globes" that Eos was already meeting with insurtech startup entrepreneurs in order to find companies suitable for its portfolio. "There are many startups in Israel that have spotted the potential in the insurance sector, but they are trying to enter a market without understanding the industry. This is a very hot area now, and many people are of course tying to hitch a ride on this bubble," she said.
Segev-Harel said that Eos's unique feature was its exclusive focus on investments in insurance technologies, with large-scale exits in the US. "The fund leverages not only the partners' knowledge, but also the network of over 200 insurance companies accessible at every moment by telephone. This is a real value that we are providing to companies in which we invest," she explained, adding that the fund would not confine itself to seek investments; it will find companies suitable for follow-on investments. The average investment per company will be $2.5-5 million.
Eos was founded in 2016 by partners Sam Evans, Carl Bauer-Schlichtegroll, and Jonathan Kalman, who manage its activities from its offices in London and Philadelphia. Kalmnan, who is visiting Israel this week, said, "We are glad to enter the Israeli high-tech market and to make Eos an active player in the local insurtech market. We have seen many insurance technologies and many innovative business models that arose in Israel, and will follow events in this market in order to find investments that suit our strategy."