JVP supports insurance tech provider Earnix's expansion through new TPG-backed vehicle

Jerusalem Venture Partners has closed a $290 million continuation vehicle partnership with TPG GP to support the global expansion of Earnix, an artificial intelligence insurance technology company.

According to Reuters, TPG will hold a 30% stake in the new continuation vehicle.

Part of the vehicle's investment will go to Earnix. JVP was an early investor in Earnix, and holds a 54% stake in the insurtech, according to Reuters. TPG GP will not be a direct investor in Earnix.

Insight Partners will hold 14% and management owns more than 20% of Earnix, which already has annual revenue above $100 million, is profitable and is considered a unicorn – valued at more than $1 billion, according to Erel Margalit, founder of JVP and chairman of Earnix.

Earnix operates in more than 35 countries. It has been adopted by more than 100 insurance clients including Axa, Generali, Tokio Marine and Munich Re. It provides insurers and banks with cloud-native software for real-time pricing, underwriting and product personalization.

Most of its business is in Europe, but the U.S. has grown fast and comprises some 40% of its revenue.

The $290 million injection was partly used to buy out those former investors, while some of the funds will go into Earnix, Margalit told Reuters.

"It's giving me a lot more money to invest. If we want to make an acquisition and if we want to do some more things, there is more where that came from," Margalit said.

Margalit said he believes Earnix, which bought French generative AI firm Zelros in April, has more room to grow before the company is ready for an exit, such as a Nasdaq share offering.

"You need $300 million of revenue in order to go IPO and that will take another year or two," he said. "That will take a little bit more time or a strategic acquisition ... When you prepare yourself to become a large, independent company, things happen along the way.

"Sometimes you get an offer you can't refuse. Sometimes you become an independent company by going public."