Early-stage VC firm Altai Ventures has launched a $53mn investment fund that will target startups in the insurtech and fintech space.
The fund surpassed its US$50mn target thanks to the backing of investors like Bain Capital Ventures, Century Equity Partners, and Limited Partners (LPs) across the P&C, life insurance, insurance brokerage and commercial banking sectors.
US-based Altai Ventures specialises in insurtech, fintech and enterprise software for financial services. It invests mainly in Seed and Series A rounds, where it says it “leverages its operating expertise, deep industry knowledge and strategic LPs to drive immediate, meaningful value creation”. Altai’s investments are primarily focused on the North American market with investments in the range of US$200,000–500,000 for Seed rounds and US$1–3mn for Series A rounds. It has previously invested in AI-driven claims guidance EvolutionIQ; insurance infrastructure provide LULA; and commercial brokerage Newfront, which went on to raise US$200mn in its Series D round at a valuation of US$2.2bn.
Along with its core venture capital strategy, Altai also incubates businesses focused on pain points not addressed in the marketplace. Last year, Altai partnered with Accelerant, Bain Capital Ventures and Runyon Design to launch digital-native TPA Reserv, which raised US$8mn to overhaul the claims process using AI.
Altai likes to ‘build companies, not just back them’
Oleg Ilichev, Founder and Managing Partner of Altai Ventures, says: “We deeply believe in a principles-driven business model with customer centricity at the heart of it and, as a result, have constructed a platform that can drive substantial and differentiated value for our founders and strategic partners.
“Financial institutions represent a multi-trillion dollar industry that is still at the early stages of technological transformation. Now that we’ve closed on this new fund, we’re looking forward to working with inspiring entrepreneurs and our strategic LPs to solve some of the biggest challenges in financial services.”
Matt Harris, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, adds: “One of the things that attracted us to Altai is that our investment philosophies are very much aligned. At Bain Capital Ventures, we help build iconic companies, not just back them. The same can be said for the team at Altai – they like to roll up their sleeves and work alongside startup founders.
“What also attracted us to Altai was their operating experience and knowledge of the insurtech space. We’re looking forward to collaborating with them on early-stage opportunities and incubations in this area.”