Today we are pleased to announce the closing of our syndicated investment in Irish InsurTech, Kayna. Kayna has just secured a funding round of €1 million with our participation alongside lead investors Middlegame Ventures and Delta Partners.
Founded by serial entrepreneurs Paul Prendergast and Peter Bermingham in 2021, Kayna have already carved out a name for themselves in the embedded insurance market with an award-winning platform that is revolutionising the insurance ecosystem.
When we met with Kayna back in early 2022 it was clear that they had found a significant opportunity in the embedded insurance market and delivered a seamless product to answer the needs of one of the most promising and underserved corners of the market, SMB insurance. In the US alone, 40% of small businesses have no insurance and 75% are expected to be substantially under insured.
With the global embedded insurance market expected to reach GBP 500bn by 2030 it is unsurprising that the past few years have seen a steep rise in the number of embedded insurance products.
To better understand this burgeoning landscape, we created our Embedded Insurance report. This took a comprehensive look at the market opportunity and included an assessment of 50+ embedded insurance infrastructure providers. Through this and our consulting work, we have come to understand the platform characteristics that matter most, and how to position the opportunity and the solutions to meet it.
Kayna stood out to us as disrupters of the industry. We know the vertically integrated insurance model is outdated and insurance channels lack engagement, which makes upselling and cross-selling hard. Kayna solves this problem by providing on-demand, pay-as-you-go insurance solutions that are integrated seamlessly into existing platforms.
Aside from fulfilling one of our most basic investment criteria (fulfilling a customer need), their solution simply does it better. Firstly, it can embed multiple lines of insurance at the point of need, which is both a differentiated capability and key to meeting the broad requirements of SMEs. Second, it is able to use data to tailor policies for each SME customer, and also to keep policies to date as conditions change, such as employee numbers change. Lastly, its go-to-market approach is unique, going to market through vertical SaaS platforms. These platform partnerships give Kayna access to millions of SMEs, who can purchase insurance directly through a channel they are already using in the daily business operations. Moreover, using the rich data in these platforms, Kayna is able to dynamically match and tailor insurance policies for every customer’s needs.
It is early days for Kayna. The company started working with its first insurance and vertical SaaS platform partners this year. However, the early signs of promise are already evident, including Kayna being awarded the accolade of Global Early-Stage Insurtech start-up of the year at InsurTech NY’s spring conference held in New York. Its first platform clients should go-live this year, which will allow it to showcase the customer success it is creating.
