<article>Hong Kong-headquartered venture capital firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Arbor%20Ventures">Arbor Ventures</a> has led a $12-million funding round for Israeli commercial insurance data platform <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Planck%20Re">Planck Re</a>.</article>

Hong Kong-headquartered venture capital firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Arbor%20Ventures">Arbor Ventures</a> has led a $12-million funding round for Israeli commercial insurance data platform <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Planck%20Re">Planck Re</a>.
Arbor Ventures, which has offices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Tel Aviv, was joined by <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Viola%20FinTech">Viola FinTech</a> and <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Eight%20Roads">Eight Roads</a> in Planck Re&#8217;s first funding round since it was founded in 2016 by Elad Tsur, Amir Cohen, and David Schapiro.
Planck Re said it will use the fresh funds to expand its product line into more segments and boost its research development team in Israel and sales team in North America.
Buying insurance in 2018 still involves endless questions filled by humans, according CEO Elad Tsur. In addition to it being a time-consuming and labour-intensive process, it is also prone to errors, he said.
Planck Re said it streamlines the commercial underwriting process by aggregating small and medium businesses&#8217; digital footprint to help insurers acquire a comprehensive understanding of customer risk.
&#8220;Emerging from two years of research and development, we resolved this by leveraging AI and Big Data technologies to provide answers to all required underwriting questions, with name and address being the only manual inputs,&#8221; Tsur said.
The insurtech startup, which is based in Tel Aviv and New York, said it will initially focus on the US commercial insurance market where it already has pilot programs with a number of insurance carriers.
A number of insurtech startups recently raised funding from investors eager to tap into the insurance technology segment.
In February, Singapore-based automotive insurance startup Vouch Insurtech closed a $759,040 seed investment from Taipei-based Nogle Capital Management, GREE Ventures and several angel investors.
Vertex Ventures Israel also led a $5-million Series A funding round in Israeli startup Atidot, an insurtech firm that provides big data and predictive analytics tools for the life insurance industry.
Last year, Malaysian startup PolicyStreet, an online marketing and technology partner for insurance providers, raised $492,206 in seed funding from Singapore-based venture capital firm KK Fund.
“Insurance companies are thirsty for actionable data, to assess risk, gain real-time insights and enhance customer understanding. Planck Re aims to empower them through a streamlined digital approach, which we believe will truly alter the insurance industry,&#8221; Arbor Ventures vice president and Israel head Lior Simon said in a statement.
Arbor Ventures recently raised $178.6 million toward a $220-million second venture capital fund, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in May. The fund was backed by as many as 23 LPs.
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Arbor Ventures joined Viola FinTech and Eight Roads in Planck Re's first funding round since it was founded in 2016 by Elad Tsur, Amir Cohen, and David Schapiro.

Arbor Ventures leads $12m round for Israeli insurtech firm Planck Re

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Arbor Ventures leads $12m round for Israeli insurtech firm Planck Re

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