io.insure, a specialty insurance online marketplace for small and medium-sized mergers and acquisitions (M&A), has launched in Australia.

io.insure says it bridges a significant risk protection gap in the niche M&A segment for SMEs, where there is a scarcity of insurance capacity and inefficient processes due to a focus on higher value transactions.

The platform will initially be piloted in the Australian market before being expanded globally.

“This is a great market to launch and establishes a good base for our expansion into Asia, the US and Europe,” Co-Founder David Rogers tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We like the SME profile of the overall market which aligns well with our strategy to fill the gap of the SME M&A market.”

Over a quarter of SME owners in Australia are aged 65 and over, signalling a significant impending transfer of wealth, with Mr Rogers estimating $4 trillion in assets and 350,000 Australian SMEs may transfer over the next decade.

“There is a risk protection gap in this SME M&A segment, with a scarcity of insurance capacity, inefficient processes and the ecosystem focusing on mid to large sized companies instead,” he said. “Given the size of the opportunity we believe a marketplace is the key to delivering solutions.”

io.insure says it has secured capacity from a leading Australian insurer and partnered with Lloyd’s in Asia for Financial Lines and an insurer to support a global buildout of M&A insurance. It also has a parametric - Digital Business Interruption business in the UK which the team are working on bringing to Australia, and plans to expand into those lines across the US and Europe as well.

“We are building a leading ecosystem that connects customers, advisers/distributors and insurer partners through an insurance marketplace, enabled by an exchange of expert people, personalised products & services and a data & technology platforms,” it says.