"So I was at over the friend of a friend's house. He had these packages, these LesserEvil packages at his house—the popcorn and the Krinkle Sticks. And I remember saying, "Oh, that's interesting." And he was telling me how he bought the brand from Gene Hackman and Jim Cramer, but he really didn't have the resources to take it further, and he wasn't sure that he was going to continue working on it. So that's what planted the seed, and I started talking to him a little but, and he definitely wanted out. So I was able to acquire it fairly inexpensively. If it would have been a big price tag, I probably would have shied away, because I knew that I didn't really know anything about this category, but it was just cheap enough to make me make a crazy decision." 

– Charles Coristine. 

Hershey agreed to acquire LesserEvil in a deal valued at around $750 million.

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K2 & KM

K2 Cyber, a division of K2 Insurance Services, announced the launch of their SMB Cyber Insurance program, which provides coverage through "continuous risk engineering, cutting-edge prevention and mitigation tools, and robust cyber education."

K2 Cyber is founded and led by Keith Moore, the former CEO and founder of CyberPolicy and former CEO of CoverHound.

✈️

AXA Partner US is introducing AXA Travel Eye, a travel risk management platform designed to enhance safety and efficiency for business travelers and expatriates. Some of the features include real-time risk assessments, security updates, and global event alerts, powered by Safeture.

"Today's corporate travelers need more than just insurance—they need proactive risk management and real-time support. AXA Travel Eye, powered by our partnership with Safeture, brings cutting-edge technology to the forefront of travel safety." – Shaun Boulter, global head operations and security, AXA Partners.

Embedded

Online car marketplace carsales announced a partnership with Allianz Australia to offer car insurance to shoppers on the platform. 

Founded in 1997, carsales is part of publicly listed CAR Group and it claims to be the leading car sales platform in Australia.

ICHRA

Healthcare startup Thatch announced a $40 million Series B funding round led by Index Ventures and joined by Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, ADP Ventures, SemperVirens, PeopleTech Partners, and The General Partnership. 

The San Francisco-based startup helps employers offer Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement to employees. Since launching in 2023, Thatch helped over a thousand companies. The startup also announced that it is bringing on Gary Daniels, the former CEO for UnitedHealthcare's Pacific Northwest division, as its chief growth officer. 

Bottom Line: Competing with AmFam-backed Venteur.

Backed by SFV

UK-based startup Lumai has raised $10 million to advance its optical computing technology, which aims to reduce the cost and energy demands of running AI models. The round was led by Constructor Capital and included support from State Farm Ventures, and others.

Munich ink

"Much ink has been spilled about the disappointing outcomes of the initial "Insurtech 1.0" wave in recent years. Even as the wave of "Insurtech 2.0" players took the lessons of their forebears to heart regarding the importance of underwriting profitability, there remained many questions around if success was possible for the industry — it has been a time defined by skepticism in search of a proof point. And now, we argue, that proof point has arrived." 

– Munich Re Ventures.

🍾

The Hanover has appointed Richard W. Lavey to the newly created role of chief operating officer. "In this position, Lavey will play an expanded and leading role in the further development of our business strategy and drive even greater integration and collaboration between our business and technology organizations, enhancing our agent and customer value propositions and advancing our goal to deliver strong, sustainable profitable growth going forward."

Now Hiring

Acuity Insurance, Arch Insurance Group, Galecki Search Associates, GradGuard, Main Street America Insurance, Mercury Insurance, Obie, Simply Business, The Hanover.

View all open positions.

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