H&Q brings insurers into $20m round for US-based One Inc
H&Q Asia Pacific has participated in a $20 million round of funding for its US-based portfolio company One Inc, a maker of software-as-a-service (SaaS) products for the insurance industry.
The investment was led by the strategic investment arm of global insurance giant Axa, which committed $11 million to the round. US-based insurance firm Mass Mutual participated as well, investing $4 million through its strategic investment arm, while H&Q contributed $5 million.
H&Q previously led One Inc's $16.7 million Series A round in 2014, in which Camp One Ventures and AGI Partners also participated. The GP helped to introduce Mass Mutual, an investor in its fund, and Axa, which it met through another investor, to One Inc. and set up the participation of the two in the latest round.
One Inc. develops computer systems for the property and casualty insurance market, aiming to help them improve their efficiency by upgrading from legacy, paper-based systems and moving more of their operations online. H&Q sees the company as well placed to take advantage of the considerable growth in China's automobile market, which for years has been the biggest in the world, but where insurance providers are mostly still wedded to older operating models.
"Through using big data they can help generate models to better predict the size of the premiums, and therefore can have the right pricing for users. That is many years ahead of the current technology in China," Ta-Lin Hsu, founder and chairman of H&Q, told AVCJ. "Our goal is to lead One Inc. to establish a good relationship with the automotive industry in China and the auto insurance business to help them with the most advanced thinking, helping them to leapfrog to become the largest players."
H&Q was founded in 1985 by Hsu, and has managed $3.5 billion in committed capital since its inception. The firm has made a number of investments related to the automotive industry in both China and the US, including a $7.8 million commitment in September to US and China-based electrical vehicle technology developer Efficient Drivetrains and a RMB200 million ($30 million) round for Chinese car rental platform Huizuche.
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