Neptune Flood receives investment, adds thousands of clients
Neptune Flood, St. Pete’s fastest-growing company, has accepted outside investment – a first for the insurtech firm.
Known for its digital platform that enables insurance agents and customers to obtain coverage quickly, Neptune Flood announced this month that two private equity firms – New York-based Bregal Sagemount and California-based FTV Capital – acquired a substantial minority stake in the company.
“We had lots of meetings and met many venture and equity partners. Ultimately, we decided to go with two accredited equity firms to best position us,” Neptune Flood CEO and President Trevor Burgess said to the St. Pete Catalyst.
Trevor Burgess, CEO of Neptune Flood. Photo provided.
Neptune Flood provides flood insurance policies to over 150,000 homeowners, renters and businesses in 48 states and Washington, D.C. With the new investment, Burgess said Neptune Flood will now have 450,000 policies, representing 10% of the overall flood insurance marketplace.
Burgess said the venture has been a five-month journey since reconnecting with his former colleagues at Morgan Stanley in New York and hiring them as advisors to survey the marketplace for investors.
Investor FTV Capital is a sector-focused growth equity investment firm that has raised $6.2 billion and has invested in over 137 portfolio companies, and Bregal Sagemount is a growth-focused private capital that’s raised more than $6.5 billion of capital and has invested in over 70 companies.
“If we are going to triple in size in the coming years, we want people at the table who have expertise in technology, science and insurance and can provide industry contacts. Neptune Flood is a software company, we don’t take risks. We want to ensure we are broadening our outreach to risk partners,” Burgess said.
“This gives me and my team great flexibility to grow the business and keep the culture while also having this significant minority [and intellectual] investment,” Burgess said. “This is the next chapter of the company. Neptune Flood is a profitable company; we don’t need to raise equity for an earned rate like startups do, this is a strategic investment.”
Burgess didn’t disclose the financial terms of the transaction with the investors but said he remains the majority owner.
Neptune Flood’s growth is largely fueled by its proprietary artificial intelligence platform, Triton, which assesses flood risk on a property-by-property basis, allowing the company to provide an accurate assessment of risk, personalize pricing for customers, and offer competitive premiums.
“Sagemount has been investing in and following the insurance and MGA [managing general agents] markets for several years and we are incredibly impressed by the innovative technology that Neptune has built,” Blair Greenberg, partner at Sagemount, said in a prepared statement. “The company has truly disrupted the traditional flood insurance market and we are excited to support them as they continue to bring their insurtech solution to more customers.”
Mike Vostrizansky, a partner at FTV, added, “We are excited to support Neptune as they continue to transform the way that homeowners and businesses purchase flood insurance – increasing consumer awareness and adoption.”
Greenberg and Vostrizansky will join Neptune’s board of directors.
“This is big news for the area. It shows you can build companies here and attract this kind of business,” Burgess said.
Burgess said Neptune Flood may accept additional investments in the future.
“My last company, C1 Bank [based in St. Petersburg], went public and that was a big success, but what comes with that is a tremendous amount of reporting and related and unrelated work. It’s not off the table, but the focus for now operating and growing Neptune,” he said.
Today, Neptune has 45 employees, most of which are building the technology behind Neptune’s platform. Burgess said he foresees the company crossing the 200 or 250 employees count over the next several years.
