One Inc’s Acquisition of Invenger-InsurPay: A Closer Look

One Inc’s Acquisition of Invenger-InsurPay: A Closer Look

(Image source: Invenger-InsurPay homepage.) 

In February 2020, insurance-specific digital payments vendor One Inc (Folsom, Calif.) announced its acquisition by Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm with expertise in payments software and SaaS. The recapitalization came at a time when One Inc had established an impressive cadence of new contracts following a refocus on its digital payments business after venturing into core system software. The new funding also enabled One Inc to acquire Invenger-InsurPay, a vendor with significantly complementary solutions that had also enjoyed rapid growth—even without a formal marketing effort. The growth of each company was likely accelerated by the effect of the pandemic on convincing insurance companies of the value of remotely hosted solutions. That effect is likely to continue to enhance the fortunes of the combined entity for the foreseeable future.

Christopher W. Ewing, CEO, One Inc.

One Inc offers a full-stack solution for premiums and claims processing, while Invenger Technologies has primarily focused on its claims disbursement product, Invenger-InsurPay. Over the short term, the two companies will continue to operate in parallel under the aegis of One Inc as parent company. The long-term goal of the acquisition is to combine the best attributes of both companies’ offerings to provide the ultimate payment experience for our current and future customers, according to One Inc CEO Chris Ewing. “Since the acquisition, we’ve been working in close partnership with the folks from Invenger to ensure continuity of service for both sets of customers,” he says.

Both vendors offer digital disbursement platforms designed to enable insurers to reduce their dependence on costly paper checks by empowering policyholders to choose from a range of payment methods and channels. The two platforms also facilitate multiparty and vendor payments, and both integrate with Guidewire core systems and are part of the Guidewire PartnerConnect Solutions program. Each platform has unique functionalities that complement the other. For example, Invenger-InsurPay supports lienholder payments, and adjusters can administer the software from the field. ClaimsPay contains digital engagement features and is part of the larger One Inc Digital Payments Platform, our full-stack inbound-outbound payment solution.

“In time, we will identify and leverage key areas of synergy between the two platforms to add strategic functionality with cross-built microservices to both solutions,” Ewing adds. “Ultimately, we will merge the best of Invenger-InsurPay with best from the One Inc ClaimsPay—our outbound payment solution—to build an incomparable, customer-focused, insurance-specific, and feature-rich digital payments platform.”

Great Hill’s investment in One Inc provided a high degree of focus as well the means to take the company to the next level, both through the evolution of solutions and the capacity for growth through acquisition, according to Ewing. Invenger-InsurPay enhances One Inc’s competitive position by bringing its highly reputed, feature-rich digital disbursement platform to complement One Inc’s existing inbound-outbound payment platform. Ewing notes that Invenger-InsurPay already has capabilities that One Inc was just beginning to work on, which he says speeds up the company’s development road map by at least 12 months.

“They have done an amazing job tackling some of the most challenging use cases in insurance,” Ewing says. “We are also gaining an incredible team that has top talent in the disbursement side of the house. Ravi [Cherukuru, Chief Product Officer] and his team understand the claims and disbursement market as well as anyone, and adding his product knowledge and their technical expertise to One Inc is truly a game changer.”

Invenger-InsurPay has enjoyed a remarkable record of success since the launch of the InsurPay solution in 2012. The company had 18 customers when Insurance Innovation Reporter first met them at the ITC conference in 2018, and that list has grown to 36. The combined One Inc/Invenger-InsurPay entity has over 165 customers.

Krishna Mohan Pai, CEO, Invenger-InsurPay.

Until now, Invenger-InsurPay had grown principally through word-of mouth, according to Krishna Mohan Pai, the company’s founder and CEO. “We’ve mainly built our business relationships through direct outreach and word-of-mouth,” he relates. “Two years ago, Guidewire referred us to Kim Morton of First Division Marketing, whom we contracted on a very part-time basis to help us increase brand awareness. She connected us with industry analysts and helped leverage our core systems partners to develop a case study and promote webcasts. But we have never had a formal marketing department.”

Urgent Need for Digital Flexibility and Contactless Payments

Like One Inc, Invenger-InsurPay found that the pandemic exposed the urgent need for digital flexibility and contactless payments, Mohan Pai relates. “Many insurers have told us that, although payment system upgrades have been on their 1- to 2-year road maps, the onset of shelter-in-place orders and a distributed workforce has prompted them to accelerate their technology timetables and make digital payments a top priority,” he says.

Ewing acknowledges that the pandemic has made digital solutions more appealing than ever, noting that insurers and policyholders need to be able to receive and make payments remotely in the world of social distancing in order to maintain successful operations and customer relationships. However, he stresses that the Invenger-InsurPay acquisition was already on the radar before the pandemic hit.

“We have experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, including our 2019 recapitalization with Great Hill Partners,” Ewing says. Looking ahead, it made sense that the next step would be to join forces with another industry powerhouse to continue pushing our payments solution to its full potential. At the same time, Invenger-InsurPay—our formidable competitor at the time—was bursting at the seams on their own trajectory of success. They needed to scale their organization to meet the growing needs of their expanding customer base. When the discussions began, it was clear this would be a good fit and a natural next step for both companies.”

One Inc Acquires Invenger Technologies/InsurPay

One Inc Acquired by Great Hill Partners