Sep 11, 2020

Aclaimant has received acquisition interest from both private equity and strategics, but prefers to remain independent in a dynamic insurance and risk management space, said co-founder and CEO David Wald. The Chicago-based risk management platform has received interest from suitors for about the last five years, although it did not receive such interest while it was raising a USD 10m Series A, which it announced on 29 June, said Wald. The company had a clearly stated goal of raising money after a strong 2019 and was not for sale, said Wald.

Aclaimant’s software helps companies improve the risk and claims management processes and workflow after injuries or accidents. The company works at the crossroads of insurance carriers, brokers, human resource systems and third-party consulting services, so the world of potential bidders is vast for the company, he said.

Risk management and insurance-tech has been a highly acquisitive sector, said Wald. Aside from massive deals such as Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group’s [LON:JLT] takeover by Marsh & McLennan [NYSE:MMC] for GBP 5.1bn in 2018 and Willis Towers Watson [NASDAQ:WLTW] and UK-based Aon's [NYSE:AON] proposed USD 30bn merger announced in March, there have been more technology-related deals, such as Roper Technologies [NYSE:ROP] agreeing to buy Colorado-based insurance industry software vendor Vertafore from Bain Capital and Vista Equity for USD 5.35bn on 13 August.

Wald named Vertafore and Hellman & Friedman-backed Applied Systems as large technology-enabled companies in the insurance and risk management space. Applied Systems has made a handful of acquisitions after receiving a minority investment from CapitalG in October 2018.

Despite all the dealmaking in the space, Wald said he believes Aclaimant can remain an independent player. The company works with thousands of businesses and has grown more than two times in the past handful of years, he said. The company decided to double down on growth after having a strong 2H19, when it was receiving inbound interest for its platform from large enterprises, he added.

Aclaimant expects to beat its 2020 projections from early in the year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, said Wald.

Its growth has already spurred interest from investors for a follow-up round of investment, said Wald. The company has received several inbound inquiries from those seeking to invest this summer, even after announcing the Series A, he said.

A Series B would be possible next year, but the company likely will evaluate those options after this year, he added. 

While the company competes with some older, legacy safety software makers such as IndustrySafe and Safety Reports, Wald said many companies use more common business office tools for claims such as Microsoft [NASDAQ:MSFT] and Dropbox [NASDAQ:DBX].

Founded in 2013, the company has raised nearly USD 13m to date. The company’s Series A was led by Mercury Fund and included participation from Royal Street Ventures, EBSCO Capital, KEC Ventures, RRE Ventures and Aspen Capital Group.

Aclaimant was cash flow positive before raising its Series A, but it will likely now push for more growth, said Wald.

The company has approximately 40 employees. 

As published in Mergermarket (registration required)