Global insurance brokerage and professional services firm Aon has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CoverWallet, a US-domiciled digital insurance platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
The deal gives Aon access to the fast-growing, $200+ billion premium digital insurance market for SMEs. The brokerage giant will also be able to leverage CoverWallet’s platform to develop and scale innovative digital client experiences that support the Aon United growth strategy.
“We’re excited to combine Aon’s expertise in data and analytics and global distribution with CoverWallet’s market-defining platform to create new sources of value for our clients,” said Greg Case, CEO of Aon. “CoverWallet’s culture of innovation is transforming the insurance landscape, and together we have the opportunity to further strengthen and expand the application of their digital client experience.”
CoverWallet was founded in 2015 by technology entrepreneurs Inaki Berenguer and Rashmi Melgiri. It has more than 300 employees across engineering, digital marketing, data science, business intelligence, design, and operations, with offices in New York City, Rochester, NY, and Spain. The firm has strategic partnerships with a number of top insurance companies, including Chubb, CNA, Starr, AIG, Zurich, Hiscox, and Liberty Mutual, among others.
Earlier this year, CoverWallet and Aon launched an initial commercial partnership, which piloted in Australia and later expanded to the US. Since then, the organizations have worked together to build additional pilot programs in the US.
The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020, after which the CoverWallet organization will go to market as CoverWallet, an Aon company. It will join Aon’s New Ventures Group, which is focused on delivering new sources of value to Aon’s addressable market. As part of the New Ventures portfolio, CoverWallet will apply its data and analytics capabilities, technology, and operational expertise to Aon’s digital client experience, while also liaising with leadership and global solution lines across Aon’s geographies to accelerate the growth of CoverWallet’s core business.
“We started CoverWallet to reinvent commercial insurance,” said Inaki Berenguer, CEO and co-founder of CoverWallet. “By building our customer-centric platform and leveraging advanced data science, beautiful design, and state-of-the-art technology, we have been able to simplify insurance. Aon’s shared vision means we can continue pushing the boundaries of innovation into new markets and new products at a greater scale.”
