Jim Young, based in San Francisco, began his new role as chief financial officer on July 25. Mr. Young was most recently the CFO of agricultural technology firm Indigo Ag. Prior to that, he was CFO at Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., a provider of investor communications and technology, and held senior finance positions at Visa Inc., which he assisted in taking public in 2008.
Coalition's head of finance, Doug Ireland, was previously in charge of the finance team and will now report to Mr. Young, according to the company.
According to Chief Executive Joshua Motta, the creation of the CFO position comes as the company focuses on launching operations in continental Europe and the Oceania region. Coalition was founded in 2017 and currently operates in the United States and Canada, with plans to expand into the United Kingdom in September. He also stated that the company intends to continue developing new offerings as well as expanding existing services.
Mr. Young stated that he intends to increase headcount and prepare for the company's international expansion. "It's both developing our existing talent and recruiting talent that you'd expect at a really sophisticated company, private or public," Mr. Young explained.
Mr. Motta stated that the company employs approximately 600 people, up from nearly 300 a year ago, and that it expects to employ approximately 700 people by the end of this year.
Mr. Motta stated that the company has no current plans to go public and that it expects to be cash flow positive this year. According to the company, it serves 160,000 customers, who are a mix of businesses and nonprofits.
Coalition has raised over $755 million in funding, including a $250 million round in July led by Allianz X, an investment subsidiary of German financial services conglomerate Allianz SE, as well as investment firms Valor Equity Partners and Kinetic Partners Management LP. The company was valued at approximately $5 billion in the most recent round.
The timing of an IPO, if pursued, should not interfere with the company's long-term goals of expansion and growth, according to Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X. "The most important thing is to stay on their trajectory and keep innovating," Mr. Cetin said, declining to reveal how much Allianz invested in the July round.
Coalition reported that its revenue nearly tripled in the year to June, reaching an annual run rate of more than $775 million in gross written premiums.
Mr. Young claims that his experience at companies like Broadridge and Indigo will help him navigate international expansion and, if Coalition goes public, generate shareholder returns.
"Those businesses are a good training ground for thinking about how to scale a business and what the final product looks like," Mr. Young said.
Coalition has also appointed John Littzi as its first general counsel. Mr. Littzi was most recently the deputy general counsel at the insurer W.R. Berkley Corp.