A Capital Group, a venture capital firm focused on fintech and insurtech, has secured an initial close of its 11th fund, with Australian insurer QBE Insurance Group serving as its anchor investor.
The Inter-Atlantic Opportunity Fund I will target fintech, insurtech and related businesses, primarily at Series B and later stages, as IA Capital seeks to address a shortage of growth capital and liquidity for established companies.
The New York-based firm said the fund will invest in businesses with established revenues, targeting an area where generalist and corporate investors have reduced their exposure in recent years.
The strategy combines primary investments in companies familiar to IA Capital through its existing portfolio and network with secondary purchases from existing shareholders seeking liquidity.
These may include corporate venture investors that have scaled back their investment activities.
IA Capital’s investment team, led by General Partner Ravi Shah, has completed two investments through the fund so far.
They include Panacea, a US-based financial platform serving doctors, dentists and veterinarians, and Aurora, a UK-based platform that uses algorithms to automate property and casualty insurance underwriting.
QBE is backing the fund through QBE Ventures, its corporate venture development and investment arm.
The commitment complements the insurer’s direct investment strategy, which focuses on building strategic partnerships with technology companies that can support its global operations.
QBE Ventures Chief Executive James Orchard said the fund would provide access to investment opportunities that might be difficult for corporate investors to pursue directly.
He said some corporate venture programmes had retreated in recent years because their investments were not sufficiently connected to their parent companies’ core businesses and strategies.
IA Capital Managing Partner Andy Lerner said the firm wanted to offer corporate investors a more flexible approach to gaining exposure to financial technology innovation, drawing on its investment experience, infrastructure, and industry network.
Founded in 2000, IA Capital has completed 73 investments across fintech and insurtech. It has maintained strategic investment relationships with insurers since 2014.
Apart from the new fund, the firm manages three multi-investor funds involving 23 insurers and two single-investor funds for Prudential Financial and Goldman Sachs Alternatives.
