EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Munich Re to acquire IoT startup relayr for $300M as it moves deeper into tech
Munich Re Group has established a sizable presence in the startup ecosystem by backing emerging players across various growth segments. Now, the Germany-based global insurance giant is moving more directly into tech by acquiring one of its portfolio companies.
Munich Re today announced plans to buy relayr Inc., a Boston-based provider of “internet of things” technology for the industrial sector, in a $300 million deal. The startup claims more than 130 customers, including big names such as shipping giant Maersk.
Relayr has developed a middleware platform that enables industrial companies to collect and and analyze operational readings from their equipment. According to the startup, the software can scan incoming data for anomalies that may require special attention. One supported use case is predictive maintenance, the practice of using sensory logs to find machinery issues before they cause a failure.
Relayr’s platform is based on a “modular” architecture that it claims enables companies to customize their deployments for different kinds of hardware. Moreover, organizations have a choice among running the software on-premises, in the cloud or both.
The startup also offers various value-added services alongside the software to ease implementation. Among them are “financial and insurance-related components” that relayr added in 2016 after partnering with Munich Re’s HSB industrial equipment insurance arm, which is also the unit behind today’s acquisition. That existing collaboration is the foundation of the company’s plans to generate a return from the transaction.
“The Internet of Things is already changing our world and has the potential to disrupt the traditional insurance and reinsurance industry through new business models, services and competitors,” said Torsten Jeworrek, a member of Munich Re’s Board of Management, in a prepared statement. “This acquisition is a clear example of our strategy: we are combining our own knowledge of risk, data analysis skills and financial strength with relayr’s technological expertise.”
Munich Re expects to close the acquisition within four to six weeks. The company said relayr will continue to operate autonomously under the wing of its HSB unit.
Photo: Unsplash
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