NEXT Insurance, the US small-business insurer founded in 2016, was last valued at about $4bn as a private company and was then sold in full to ERGO, the primary insurance arm of Munich Re, in a deal that valued it at $2.6bn. The acquisition was announced on 20 March 2025 and completed on 1 July 2025, and the business now trades as ERGO NEXT Insurance.
This overview sets out the company’s funding rounds, the valuations reported at each stage, what has happened since the sale, and how its path compares with listed insurtechs Lemonade, Hippo and Root. Figures are as reported by the named sources; private-company valuations are often estimates rather than disclosed numbers.
What NEXT Insurance does
NEXT sells commercial insurance to small businesses in the US, online and through agents. Its range includes general liability, business owners’ policies, workers’ compensation and professional liability, according to the company’s January 2026 rebrand announcement. The company is based in Palo Alto, California; about 200 of its roughly 700 staff were in Israel at the time of the sale, Calcalist reported.
It was founded by Guy Goldstein (chief executive), Nissim Tapiro (chief technology officer) and Alon Huri (chief growth research officer), Fortune reported in 2021. Huri left in 2024 to join Team8, according to Calcalist. ERGO describes NEXT’s main asset as its own technology for automated underwriting and pricing.
Its customer base grew from more than 70,000 in October 2019, as TechCrunch reported, to more than 200,000 in early 2021 (Fortune), about 600,000 at the time of the sale (ERGO) and more than 750,000 by January 2026 (the company’s rebrand release).
Funding rounds and reported valuations
NEXT raised about $1.1bn of venture funding in total before the sale, Calcalist reported in November 2023. The table below lists the main rounds and who reported each valuation.
| Date | Round | Amount | Lead or main investors | Valuation (who reported it) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | Seed and Series A | About $48m combined (implied by TechCrunch’s $131m total after the Series B) | Not covered here | Not disclosed |
| July 2018 | Series B | $83m | Redpoint Ventures, with Nationwide, Munich Re, American Express Ventures and Ribbit Capital (TechCrunch) | Not disclosed |
| October 2019 | Series C | $250m | Munich Re (sole investor) | More than $1bn (TechCrunch) |
| September 2020 | Series D | $250m | CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth fund (Reinsurance News) | About $2bn (Fortune, describing the prior round in 2021) |
| March 2021 | Series E | $250m | FinTLV and Battery Ventures (Fortune) | $4bn (Fortune) |
| November 2023 | Strategic round | $265m | Allstate and Allianz X | About $4bn, per Calcalist’s own reporting; NEXT did not state a valuation |
| March 2025 (completed 1 July 2025) | Acquisition by ERGO | About 71% of shares bought; ERGO already held about 29% | ERGO / Munich Re | $2.6bn for 100% of shares (ERGO) |
Two points stand out. First, the valuation doubled within about six months, from roughly $2bn in September 2020 to $4bn in March 2021, at the peak of venture funding for insurtech. Second, the 2023 round did not raise that figure: Calcalist described it as a flat round at about $4bn, even though, by its account, the company’s revenue had grown substantially since 2020. Allstate’s investment came with a plan to offer NEXT’s small-business cover to Allstate customers.
The Munich Re and ERGO acquisition
Munich Re had been involved with NEXT for years before buying it. It invested in the 2018 Series B, was the sole investor in the 2019 Series C, and its subsidiary ERGO held about 29% of NEXT’s share capital by early 2025.
On 20 March 2025, ERGO signed a definitive agreement to buy all of NEXT. The deal valued the company at $2.6bn, according to ERGO’s completion announcement, and was paid in cash, Calcalist reported (via Ynetnews). On those figures, the price was about 35% below the $4bn reported for the 2021 and 2023 rounds.
The deal completed on 1 July 2025 after regulatory approvals. At that point ERGO said NEXT had about 700 employees, more than 600,000 customers and a 2024 top line of $548m. NEXT was placed within ERGO’s management structure, giving ERGO a direct route into the US small and medium-sized business market.
What has happened since the sale
- September 2025: AM Best gave NEXT a financial strength rating of A+ (Superior), reflecting its place in the Munich Re group, according to the company. It said it was approaching 750,000 customers and had extended its business owners’ policy to 41 states.
- January 2026: NEXT Insurance renamed itself ERGO NEXT Insurance, citing more than 750,000 small-business customers and stating it would remain a digital-first insurer selling direct and through agents.
- October 2026: Guy Goldstein joined the ERGO Group management board as its first chief artificial intelligence officer from 1 October 2026, while remaining chief executive of ERGO NEXT, Insurance Business reported on 27 September 2026.
As a wholly owned subsidiary, ERGO NEXT no longer has a separate market or funding valuation. Its results are reported inside ERGO and Munich Re.
How NEXT compares with other insurtechs
NEXT’s path, a private valuation peak in 2021 followed by a sale below that peak, is similar in direction to that of the insurtechs that listed during 2020 and 2021. The difference is that NEXT’s investors were bought out by a strategic owner with an existing stake, while the listed companies’ valuations are set daily by the stock market.
| Company | What it sells | Valuation at or near 2020–21 listing | Later valuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEXT Insurance | US small-business cover | $4bn private valuation, March 2021 (Fortune) | $2.6bn sale price, 2025 (ERGO) |
| Lemonade | Renters, home, car, pet and life cover | Listed July 2020; shares rose 139% on the first day (Fortune) | Market capitalisation about $3.6bn as of 11 October 2026 (TipRanks) |
| Hippo | US home insurance | $5bn in its 2021 SPAC merger (Fortune) | About $0.85bn as of 11 September 2026 (TipRanks) |
| Root | US car insurance | About $7.1bn fully diluted at its October 2020 IPO price (Renaissance Capital) | About $0.71bn to $0.81bn in late October 2026 (TipRanks) |
The low point for the listed group came earlier. By June 2023, Fortune reported that Hippo’s market value had fallen about 93% from its SPAC valuation to roughly $354m, Lemonade’s shares were down about 74% from their post-IPO level and Root’s were down 77% from their first-day close. Market capitalisations change daily, so the 2026 figures above are snapshots on the dates shown.
Measured against the 2021 figures, NEXT’s sale price was about 35% lower, while Hippo’s latest market value is roughly 83% below its SPAC valuation and Root’s roughly 89% below its IPO valuation, using the midpoint of the October 2026 range. The comparison has limits: NEXT’s $4bn figures were private-round valuations, partly reported rather than disclosed, and the companies sell different lines of insurance with different loss patterns.
Key facts
- Founded: 2016, Palo Alto, by Guy Goldstein, Nissim Tapiro and Alon Huri.
- Total venture funding: about $1.1bn (Calcalist, 2023).
- Peak reported valuation: $4bn (March 2021, Fortune; about $4bn again in November 2023, Calcalist).
- Sale: $2.6bn for 100% of shares to ERGO (Munich Re), announced 20 March 2025, completed 1 July 2025.
- Current name: ERGO NEXT Insurance (since January 2026), with more than 750,000 customers as of that date.
This article is a factual summary of reported figures and is not investment advice.
Sources
- ERGO: completion of the NEXT Insurance acquisition, 1 July 2025
- Calcalist via Ynetnews: ERGO to acquire NEXT Insurance for $2.6bn, March 2025
- Calcalist: NEXT raises $265m at the same valuation as 2021, November 2023
- Fortune: NEXT Insurance doubles valuation to $4bn, March 2021
- TechCrunch: NEXT raises $250m from Munich Re, October 2019
- Reinsurance News: NEXT secures $250m Series D, September 2020
- Business Wire: NEXT Insurance rebrands as ERGO NEXT Insurance, January 2026
- Insurance Business: Guy Goldstein joins ERGO board, September 2026
- Fortune: Hippo and insurtech valuations, June 2023
- Renaissance Capital: Root prices IPO, October 2020
