Erel Margalit’s Jerusalem-based venture capital firm, JVP, has raised $290 million from American investment giant TPG, which manages $269 billion in assets.
Most of the funds will be used to buy out early JVP investors, who together own about 26% of shares in the insurtech unicorn Earnix. A smaller portion of the money will support Earnix’s strategic initiatives, including acquisitions and AI technology development.
In this new funding round, Insight Partners, a U.S.-based fund, will also buy shares from existing investors. The deal will reshape Earnix’s ownership, with JVP increasing its stake to over 50%.
Back in 2024, two investors, Vintage and Haim Shani’s IGP, sold their Earnix shares for around $120 million, with JVP and Insight Partners among the buyers.
Investors in JVP’s early fund were given the choice to either roll over their investment or cash out, and many, including Partners Group, HighVista Strategies, Committed Advisors, and Hollyport Capital, chose to roll over.
Investors in JVP’s continuation vehicle joined forces with JVP’s growth fund investors, such as Hamilton Lane and Lexington Partners, to collectively hold more than 50% of Earnix. The fund reported that the transaction gave early-stage investors a gross return of 8.7 times on their investment in Earnix.
Earnix raised about $75 million in 2021 at a valuation of over $1 billion. Today, under CEO Robin Gilthorpe, who took over from Udi Ziv in 2023, the company is preparing for a major transformation, including workforce adjustments, as it shifts to AI-driven systems.
The new fund shows strong confidence in Earnix’s global growth potential.
Earnix operates in over 35 countries across six continents and works with more than 100 major insurers and financial companies, including AXA, Assicurazioni Generali, Tokio Marine, Banco Santander, IAG, and Toyota Financial Services. Its cloud platform helps these companies make real-time decisions for pricing, underwriting, and personalizing insurance and banking products, leading to lower costs and higher revenues.
Dr. Erel Margalit, Founder and Chairman of JVP and Chairman of Earnix, said: “I am delighted to partner with TPG, one of the world’s leading investment firms, as they support us in building Earnix into the leading AI platform for the insurance and financial services industries.”
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