With the help of Touchdown and how broad their visibility and network is, I think it’ll improve our ability to know who’s doing what across a wide range of things within the insurance business,” said Kennedy. “We’ve always paid attention to what’s going on in the insurance business and who’s doing what. Having the support of a seasoned firm like Touchdown to manage the fund gives Erie a reach they would likely not have otherwise. “If you think about underwriting or claims management or loss prevention – there are a number of different themes and we’re seeing a lot of activity across the board.” So it’s a pretty vibrant market across the entire value chain,” Grant told Global Corporate Venturing. “If you look at just the overall venture ecosystem, I think close to a quarter – around 20% – of all venture deals were in the financial services space. It has, however, already been in talks with companies outside North America that want to expand their relationships in the region.įor Touchdown, the fund marks the first time it does direct work within the insurance sector, though it does have experience in its team from investing in the space, according to Touchdown Ventures co-founder and managing director Rich Grant (pictured right), who notes significant venture activity in the sector. That flexibility also extends to its strategy in terms of investment stage and geography – both of which the fund is generally agnostic on but will lean towards early-stage investments in North America-based companies. By executing, we’ll learn and will evolve from there,” he said. One of the things that we want to do is make sure that we retain the flexibility to execute this in a way that’s most effective. “We’re taking step one here as we’re doing this formally for the first time. The open-ended structure of the vehicle is such that it allows flexibility to try different things and find the best approach, according to Kennedy. Currently, the team is looking to make between three and five investments each year to begin with. Typical investments will range between $1m and $3m, with reserved capacity for follow-ons. For Touchdown, this new fund represents another key relationship in our growing industrial sector practice.“As we looked at options to continue to mature how we do that, more of a formal approach to a venture fund seemed like a good next step, consistent with our desire to support startups and entrepreneurs, and also recognising that we’re going to be most effective creating the future together, both within our insurance space as well as some spaces that are adjacent to that.”Įrie had already made a handful of venture investments in recent years, which will be rolled over into the new fund, and is already in talks with new prospective investees. We are optimistic about the opportunity for global impact with this new fund and look forward to working with entrepreneurs in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Israel. So many people worked very hard to bring us to the starting line on this opportunity, but I especially want to thank Artur Faria, Antonio Queiroz, Lívia Hallak, Renata Traldi Carriel Astroven, Dr. □ Touchdown is truly proud to announce our latest corporate venture capital relationship, working together with Oxygea to manage its $100 million CVC fund on behalf of its parent company Braskem, focusing on sustainability investments.Īt a time when the venture capital industry is swooning from the contraction of institutional LP commitments and preoccupied with startup valuations, we are very grateful to be able to continue to work with more global corporate leaders who can bring unique, strategic value to startups - so that we can focus on helping entrepreneurs who want to build real companies that make a difference in the world.
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