Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited (President: Shinichiro Funabiki, hereinafter referred to as "MSI"), a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc. (President: Noriyuki Hara), has invested in NEXT Insurance, Inc. (Co-founder& CEO: Guy Goldstein, hereinafter referred to as "NEXT"), a U.S. insurtech transforming small business insurance.
NEXT is a next-generation digital insurance company that provides simple, affordable and customized insurance policies for small businesses. Through this investment, we will gain insight into the company's overall business strategy and focused approach to further serve the insurance needs of small business owners and improve customer service.
We will continue to strive to develop innovative products and services by incorporating a wide range of external knowledge and digital technologies through collaborations and alliances with various companies.

1. Background and Objectives

Under its medium-term management plan "Vision 2021," the Group is promoting digitalization to improve the value of the customer experience and boost business productivity. In addition, through MS&AD Ventures, a corporate venture capital company established in Silicon Valley in the United States, we have been promoting investment in and alliances with overseas startups that are innovating on a global scale. Under these circumstances, MS&AD Ventures invested in NEXT in September 2020, aiming to realize collaboration and cooperation.
MSI has decided to invest in NEXT with the aim of achieving further business growth through the enhancement of products and services utilizing NEXT's advanced digital technology.

2. Overview of NEXT

（１）Company profile

Company name  Next Insurance, Inc.
Head Office

975 California Ave, Palo Alto, California, United States （Registered in Delaware）
Representative Guy Goldstein, Co-founder and CEO
Established 2016
Main Business NEXT Insurance is a full-stack, one-stop-shop insurance provider for small businesses. As a vertically integrated insurance company, the company handles distribution, pricing, underwriting and claims.
Web site https://www.nextinsurance.com/

（２）Features and Strengths

  • NEXT has a variety of sales channels, including direct online sales to small businesses and through insurance agents and partners.
  • With excellent UI/UX*, the company has gained a very high reputation in the market for providing simplified products and services that meet customer needs in a speedy and flexible manner.
  • NEXT serves approximately 1,300 industries including accountants, contractors, restaurants and retail. Through machine learning, NEXT offers more accurate risk-based pricing of policies and eliminates the need for manual underwriting.

       * UI = user interface (design of operation = the part that the user sees and all information
          obtained from the screen)
         UX = User Experience (design of experience = a series of experiences that users feel when
         using a service, such as ease of use)

3. Future development

Through discussions with NEXT, we will apply our learnings from the company to our business in Japan and overseas. As a result, we will further enhance our insurance underwriting, sales, claims payment, and service provision.