Zurich Insurance Group acquired a minority stake in CoverWallet, a digital business insurance agency startup.

CoverWallet, which launched in 2016, disclosed the investment, which it said builds on a commercial partnership between the two companies first announced in February. It did not announce financial details.

That deal brought CoverWallet’s U.S. platform to Europe so Zurich could provide small businesses with a platform to learn about types of policies, get quotes, purchase insurance and manage their coverage online in minutes. The platform is currently live in Spain, and, bolstered by the investment, CoverWallet will continue to grow its international footprint, expanding to other European countries with Zurich.

“Following our commercial agreement with Zurich, this investment is a testament to the value Zurich sees in CoverWallet and the work we are doing to make insurance easy and convenient for small businesses in Europe,” said Inaki Berenguer, co-founder and CEO at CoverWallet. “Zurich has been a terrific partner as CoverWallet launched internationally, and we are thrilled they decided to invest in our company.”

The Zurich/CoverWallet deal involves a B2B platform that lets users benefit from real-time quoting, underwriting, binding, billing and servicing capabilities. The Hanover Group was the first carrier to use the tech platform in the U.S., providing it to agents for its emerging micro-small commercial business, whereas Zurich leverages CoverWallet’s B2B platform to sell its policies directly to small businesses online.

In October 2017, the company raised an $18.5 million Series B round, bringing its total amount raised to more than $30 million at that time. In addition to Zurich, CoverWallet has received funding from investors including Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Two Sigma, Foundation Capital and Starr Companies.

Source: CoverWallet