US software giant Applied Systems announced today that it is acquiring Israeli AI Insurtech company Planck. Financial details about the deal were not disclosed but estimates are that Applied Systems is paying between $200 and $500 million for the Israeli company.
Planck has developed an AI-based platform that gathers open-source business data for commercial insurance companies worldwide. Planck’s platform produces data-based insights for organizations that help in assessing levels of risk, promote underwriting processes and increase premiums, while cutting costs. The company has 88 employees, most of them in Israel.
The company, which was founded in 2016 by CEO Elad Tsur, CTO Amir Cohen and David Schapiro, has raised $73 million to date and was valued at $250 million in its most recent financing round in September 2022. Investors include Greenfield Partners, 3L Capital, Team8, Vintage Investment Partners, Viola Fintech and Arbor Ventures.
This is Applied Systems first investment in the Israeli market. The company is the largest cloud-based software provider in the insurance market, and its products include agency management systems and brokerage for organizations that are part of the insurance industry. The company has thousands of customers, and according to estimates controls most of the cloud-based software for insurance market.
Applied Systems CEO Taylor Rhodes said, "We believe the time is now to take bold steps to lead the insurance industry in discovering and implementing the benefits AI has to offer. By acquiring Planck, we will be investing behind a world-class team of AI and Data Science experts to accelerate the application of leading AI capabilities to insurance workflows. With our unique set of insurance technology assets that span both the agency and carrier sides of the market, our investment in Planck will deliver a significant opportunity to create AI-driven value throughout the next generation of the digital roundtrip of insurance in ways that will help our clients know more, do more of what differentiates them the most, and win more often."
When the acquisition is completed, all Planck’s employees will be absorbed by Applied Systems as part of a local development center being set up to focus on further developing Planck’s AI product and build other AI-based products for Applied’s other products. Planck’s founders will join Applied System’s management team with Tsur becoming Chief AI Officer and leading the company’s development of products in this field.
Tsur said, "We started Planck with the belief that access to real-time data to get a full picture of a business is more crucial than ever when identifying the actual risk factors that are core to insurance. We are excited to build on the success of delivering our industry-leading AI capabilities to carriers by partnering with Applied to extend the power of AI to the agency and broker distribution side of the market."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 23, 2024.
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