Private Equity investor backs insurtech firm’s growth strategy with financial package
A Manchester-based insurtech firm has won a “significant investment” from private equity investor, LDC.
Uinsure will use the undisclosed sum to support its growth strategy.
Founded in 2007, Uinsure is a cloud-based technology platform that connects financial intermediaries and lenders with a panel of the UK’s leading insurers, enabling its customers to arrange cover through a frictionless platform that has removed the complexities from insurance.
Uinsure reported revenues of £24.531m for the year to January 31, 2023, up from £20.632m the previous year.
It made a pre-tax operating profit of £6.834m, compared with £5.434m in 2022.
Uinsure has achieved 27% compound annual revenue growth over the past 10 years and LDC’s investment and strategic support will increase its market share further, while developing new markets, as well as growing its network of partnerships with intermediaries, major building societies, and banks.
Uinsure has invested heavily in its technology capability in recent years, including in new API integrations, improvements to its customer experience and in the development of its new pricing engine, enabling it to offer disruptive and award winning digital-first insurance solutions.
The business has doubled the size of its team dedicated to technology over the past two years, while it has won 12 prestigious industry awards during that time for its UinsureCX product, which tracks an individual’s mortgage progress and triggers communications at the most relevant moments of the mortgage cycle.
LDC is backing the existing management team led by founder and CEO Simon Taylor, who is also the former founder and CEO of Bankhall. Martin Schultheiss will continue as Group Managing Director, James Fawcett as Chief Financial Officer, and Dan Wright as Non-Executive Chair.
As part of the transaction, Peter Thompson, industry expert and former CEO of BGL Insurance, has joined Uinsure as a Non-Executive Director.
The investment was led by LDC North West Partner, Aziz Ul-Haq, and Partner and Head of North West, Dale Alderson, alongside Investment Director, Grant Goodwin, and Investment Manager, Camilla Greenwood. Dale and Aziz will join the board.
Simon Taylor said: “Right from the very first meeting, LDC has been aligned with our vision to remove the complexity of insurance for our partners and their customers.
“When we started looking for an investor to support us through our next phase of growth, finding the right partner who shares our culture was extremely important to us. The team at LDC will be working closely to strategically support us with our long term goals, as we explore new markets and grow our network of partnerships.”
Aziz Ul-Haq said: “Uinsure’s recent large scale investment in its technology means it is perfectly placed to serve its target market by offering a digital-first solution with a competitive edge. It has a highly experienced and incredibly ambitious management team whose offering has disrupted the industry and revolutionised the market. We’re looking forward to working with them to help it grow further.”
LDC has a successful track record in the technology sector. Since 2012, it has invested more than £650m into in excess of 35 fast growing technology businesses, backing management teams to achieve their ambitions.
Uinsure was advised by GP Bullhound (corporate finance), Eversheds Sutherland (legal) and Deloitte (debt advisory), with bank facilities provided by HSBC and Santander.
LDC was advised by DLA Piper (legal), KPMG (financial due diligence and tax) and LEK (commercial due diligence).
