US-based insurtech startup Hippo is reportedly in merger talks with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Reinvent Technology Partners, to go public.
The transaction is set to value the combined business at over $5bn, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
However, no deal has been finalised yet. Financial terms of the transaction could change, or the deal may fall apart, noted the report.
Hippo CEO Assaf Wand said that company may go public this year, the report added.
Founded in 2015, Hippo sells homeowners insurance online.
Last year, the company acquired Spinnaker Insurance and expanded its footprint in more US states.
In November 2020, Hippo received a $350m investment from Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings.
In the same year in July, the insurtech firm secured funding from investors including Ribbit Capital, Dragoneer, Felicis Ventures and Iconiq Capital.
Back in 2019, the company also inked a deal for setting up a home-maintenance platform, called Sheltr, the Bloomberg report added.
Reinvent’s lead directors include social game developer Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and the employment-oriented social networking app LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
In September 2020, the SPAC firm bagged $690m in an initial public offering (IPO). Currently, the company is valued at $1.1bn.
In August, Cohen & Company, a financial services company specialising in fixed income markets, launched a SPAC firm called INSU Acquisition Corp. II.
In July, another insurtech startup called Lemonade also went public last year. Its shares rose more than twofold during its IPO.
