Bold Penguin, a commercial insurance technology (Insurtech) firm, is reportedly set to acquire xagent, an excess and surplus brokerage tech solution provider, so that it’s able to scale its services being offered to insurance carriers, brokers and agents.
xagent says it will be integrating with the Bold Penguin exchange, which matches businesses and agents with appropriate commercial insurance quotes. Bold Penguin provides companies with commercial insurance via a single comprehensive platform. The company supports the quoting and binding of commercial insurance within “hours or minutes” instead of taking several weeks when using traditional platforms and services.
Ilya Bodner, founder and CEO at Bold Penguin, stated:
“We are obsessed with upgrading the commercial insurance ecosystem, helping it evolve to meet the needs of all the players and catch up with the pace of technological innovation. xagent shares this vision and passion; instead of forcing the market to choose between our divided solutions, acquiring xagent gives customers one simple, comprehensive solution to trust.”
The recent acquisition is consistent with Bold Penguin’s goal to provide greater accessibility to excess and surplus while developing its technology stack. One integration can potentially help connect the fragmented insurance sector.
Bryan Baird, president and CEO at xagent, noted the platform aims to simplify the process, and also intends to keep “the human connection people still want when buying insurance.”
He also mentioned that Bold Penguin and xagent will work toward “solving the same problem: simplifying and accelerating the process to obtain commercial insurance.”
Columbus, Ohio-headquartered Bold Penguin finalized a $32 million Series B investment round, which reportedly brings its total funds raised to over $50 million following its launch in 2016.
The potential threat of a cyberattack on small business operations could pose challenges for the emerging Insurtech industry. The demand for internet-based insurance policies is increasing, as the sector is projected to reach a valuation of around $7.5 billion by 2030, with small companies a rising client demographic.
However, these smaller firms continue to be among the largest and easiest targets for scammers, with nearly half of cyberattacks going after small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which makes them high-risk customers for insurers.
