Specialist insurance provider CFC has announced a major investment jointly led by European private equity firms EQT and Vitruvian Partners.
Founded in 1999, CFC joined the industry as a pioneer in the cyber insurance market. Today, the company serves more than 100,000 businesses in over 90 countries. It writes 50 products across 20 classes of specialist insurance, focused primarily on SME businesses.
The company has also significantly grown its headcount over the last three years, and now has more than 500 employees across the US, the UK, Europe and Australia. Earlier this year, CFC launched its own Lloyd’s syndicate. The group has an annual premium run rate in excess of US$1 billion.
Upon completion and regulatory approval of the investment, CFC will nearly double its employee shareholders from 175 to more than 300. Employees will remain the largest shareholding block in the company.
“We’re delighted to welcome EQT as an investor alongside Vitruvian,” said Dave Walsh, founder and group CEO of CFC. “Both EQT and Vitruvian’s focus on high-growth technology companies and commitment to creating a positive impact through their portfolios is a natural fit with CFC and our ethos as an independent, employee-owned business. EQT’s investment, and Vitruvian’s reinvestment, is testament to CFC’s track record of delivering strong, profitable growth underpinned by the expertise of our people and our history of market-leading technology innovation.”
“CFC is a truly innovative insurance business with technology at its core and a track record of growth and profitability which surpasses even the most mature fintech businesses we’ve seen,” said Robert Maclean, partner at EQT. “The accelerating pace of investment in its core platform aligns perfectly with EQT’s approach of future-proofing companies.”
“As longstanding partners and investors in CFC, we couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the road ahead,” said Joe O’Mara, partner at Vitruvian. “We’ve witnessed firsthand what a remarkable business CFC is – a tribute to the leadership team, the culture they’ve created and the commitment to excellence and innovation that has kept CFC at the forefront of the insurance market.”
