US-based Insurtech Stere closes US$5mn funding round
The capacity trading platform startup Stere has raised $5mn through its latest investment funding round, which was led by Vida Capital.
Founded in 2021, insurtech Stere operates as a capacity trading platform specializing in capacity sourcing and unique digital capabilities for embedded insurance partners and MGAs. The latest funding round follows on from news earlier this year that InsurerCore and Stere joined forces to create a new, UK customer marketplace that provides all-in-one networking and capacity placement, following customer demands.
Stere’s capacity selection engine drives program administrators’ success rate by pairing human intuition with state-of-art technology. This combination eliminates manual capacity placement pain points and inefficient post-placement steps, thus reducing carrier and reinsurer scouting time by at least 50%. Stere also works with reinsurers to create efficiency gains by digitising their processes and making it easier and faster to place business.
New investment will see Stere expand technology offerings
As a scaling concern, Stere raised $2mn in seed funding in December 2021 from Fin VC, with participation from Plug and Play Ventures, Sandalphon Capital, and Hartford Investment Management Company, among others. The insurtech also recently launched a Latin America regional office that already has closed deals with 15 significant LatAm organisations, securing a contracted revenue of $2mn.
This latest investment round from Vida Capital will enable Stere to further expand its capacity trading platform, a one-stop-shop for businesses to build and launch insurance programs with capacity partners.
Currently, the insurtech’s trading platform already offers Capacity APIs designed to improve connectivity between Insurers, Reinsurers, MGAs, Brokers, and Embedded Partners, which brings speed-to-market and scalability for all parties involved. Stere also caters as a Capacity Trading Platform for MGAs that have an existing book of business. Based on available data of the insurance program, MGAs get access to alternative capacity sources (insurers/reinsurers) for their programs which ensures enough and proper capacity is secured on an ongoing basis.
Speaking about the new investment and the opportunities it presents, Stere CEO and Founder Dogan Kaleli, explained, “Vida Capital brings a tremendous amount of expertise in reinsurance, ILS, and structured solutions, which supports Stere's vision of building a trading forum of all kinds of capacity in a one-stop-shop.
He continued, “Vida’s funding will fuel further expansion of our trading platform, allowing us to continue creating the smart tech-driven solutions that our stakeholders have come to rely on to help support and grow their businesses.”
Meanwhile, Head of Structured Credit at Vida Capital Peter Polanskyj, added, “We look forward to the prospect of the company offering a one-stop solution to a broad set of constituents with their capacity needs, be they traditional MGAs and brokers, insurtechs or embedded partners. As a reinsurance capacity provider and asset manager of insurance and reinsurance account assets, we see the value of the model Stere envisions for the future. Dogan and team have a great vision for the reinsurance market and we are excited about the strategic possibilities for both Stere and Vida on an ongoing basis.”
