Private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners has taken a majority stake in InsurTech Ripe Thinking.
The Manchester-based digital underwriting and insurance distribution platform serves 280,000 policyholders across both personal and small commercial lines.
Founded in 1997, Ripe – which recently featured on our InsurTech 50 ranking – protects their specialised needs across golf, boats, caravans and cycles, as well as providing insurance to small business owners such as personal trainers, musicians, and photographers.
Its technology enables customers to ‘build their own policy’. Over the past 12 months, it saw revenue grow by 27%.
Aquiline is based in New York and London with $6.9 billion in assets under management, specialising in investments at the intersection of technology and finance.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Ripe’s management team will continue to be led by CEO Paul Williams and founder and MD John Woosey, who will retain a significant equity stake, and marketing director Sarah Jones.
“The way people buy insurance is changing. As more individuals turn to online platforms to purchase insurance, Ripe offers a simple process for buying policies online while still ensuring quality coverage at a good value,” said Jeff Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Aquiline.
“We believe that John, Paul, and their team have built a high-quality and scalable digital platform that can identify customer demands, and design and distribute products to address these efficiently. We are excited to partner with them through the next phase of their journey.”
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Woosey said: “We are excited to partner with Aquiline, whose deep understanding of the UK and global insurance markets, and their track record of supporting technology-enabled businesses will allow us to further develop our offerings to our customers and continue to build out our underwriting and distribution capabilities.
“This partnership is a testament to the work of our incredible team who have delivered our strong and consistent growth year after year. The investment will allow us to accelerate our ambitions for international growth while still effectively and efficiently serving our customers across the UK.”
Williams added: “Aquiline is an ideal partner to support Ripe through our next phase of growth. The investment will allow us to further expand the capabilities of our industry-leading technology platform and reach customers through new and innovative channels.
“Aquiline and Ripe share a strategic vision for the company and I am excited to lead the business through its next phase of growth.”