Insurtech Kayna closes funding round

Embedded insurance insurtech Kayna has raised €1m (£867,200) in a pre-seed funding round, a statement released yesterday (20 September 2023) revealed.

The Irish firm said the funds would be used to support its expansion across the UK and US as well as its development efforts.

The funding round was co-led by Ireland based venture capital firm Delta Partners and financial services and technology venture capital company Middlegame Ventures.

Paul Prendergast, chief executive and cofounder of Kayna, said: “This funding is already powering our new business development and partner onboarding in the UK and US markets, so we have hit the ground running and are hugely excited by the potential.”

‘Boxes ticked’

Kayna, which was part of Lloyd’s Lab cohort nine, was cofounded by former Blink Parametric bosses Prendergast and Peter Bermingham in 2021.

It provides technology and data orchestration between insurance carriers, brokers and vertical software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms.

Prendergast said that vertical SaaS had “embraced embedded fintech through payments and capital lending”.

“Embedded insurance is the logical next step, offering transformative advantages for vertical SaaS platforms, enabling them to enhance the customer experience, expand revenue streams, mitigate risks and differentiate themselves in the market, whilst delivering real value to their SMB [small and mid-sized business] customers.”

Embedded insurance is forecast to reach $722bn (£583.76bn) in gross written premium by 2030, according to Instech London.

Maurice Roche, general partner at Delta Partners, said part of the reason it had helped lead Kayna’s funding round was because it saw a “significant global market opportunity”.

“Kayna ticked all the boxes for us,” Roche added.

”The team are proven, successful insurtech innovators and the Kayna solution is outstanding.

”As a versatile solution, top among its many strengths is its capacity to use a platform’s data to boost revenue and render it even more valuable, offer SMBs accurate insurance with a supported claims process, saving them time and money and unlock new distribution channels for insurance carriers. It’s a winner on every level.”