Next Insurance raises $250 million, valuation exceeds $2 billion

By Jane Lanhee Lee

(Reuters) - Next Insurance, an insurance startup serving small businesses and freelance workers on Wednesday said it raised $250 million (196.45 million pounds) in funding.

The company was valued at over $2 billion, more than doubling its valuation from late last year, said Chief Executive Officer Guy Goldstein. He didn't provide the exact valuation.

The round was led by CapitalG, Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> independent growth fund, with participation from existing investor Munich RE. This brings Next Insurance’s total funds raised to $631 million.

Goldstein said the company’s revenue this year more than doubled year on year so far. The company isn’t an agent matching companies with insurance products but an insurance company itself using technology to make buying insurance easier and more tailored to business needs, he said.

“It’s a massive market. It's a $140 billion dollar market in the U.S. and it's extremely fragmented. And there's no Geico or Progressive in this space,” said Goldstein. "This is why we raise so much money. Because we want to become kind of the Geico of small business insurance."

Next Insurance said it has more than 100,000 customers and is available in 50 states with six insurance offerings, including general and professional liability, commercial auto and workers’ compensation coverage.

(Reporting By Jane Lanhee Lee; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)