Daniel Wypler joined QBE Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Australia-based insurance provider QBE, as managing partner in October 2020.
QBE Ventures was formed in May 2017 with $50m in capital to invest in early-stage insurance technology developers, focusing on series A to C with cheque size between $3m and $5m. It targets startups based in Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK.
Wypler reports to QBE Ventures chief executive James Orchard, who joined in July 2020 after a five-and-a-half-year stint as executive general manager for innovation at insurance company IAG.
Orchard told Global Corporate Venturing when Wypler joined: “We want to build a world-class corporate venturing capability, and Daniel’s appointment reflects our ambition. I am honoured that he chose QBE Ventures, and we are very excited to have someone of his talents leading the investment team.”
QBE Ventures scored an exit in October 2020, when insurance technology producer Bold Penguin agreed to buy US-based insurance document software provider RiskGenius for an undisclosed amount.
Bold Penguin is among QBE Ventures’ portfolio, as are Hyperscience, the US-based automation technology provider; Zeguro, the US-based creator of a cyber risk analysis platform tailored for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses; and UK-based insurance technology developer Cytora.
The portfolio also includes US-based insurance data software supplier Clara Analytics, US-based weather analytics software provider Jupiter and Mitti Insurance, Australia-based risk mitigation technology developer.
Previously, Wypler had been an investment director at Australia-based financial services firm ANZ’s venture capital vehicle, ANZi Ventures, for two and a half years from May 2018. During his time at ANZi, Wypler made 17 investments, adding nine companies to its portfolio and deploying more than A$125m ($87m).
Wypler’s earlier roles had included an investment associate position at fund manager AMP’s New Ventures unit before it was closed.
