Exclusive: AI Insurance Startup Nirvana Nearly Doubles Valuation To $1.5B with $100M Series D
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Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Nirvana Insurance, an AI-based commercial insurance platform for the trucking industry, has raised a $100 million Series D round at a $1.5 billion valuation, it tells Crunchbase News exclusively. The raise comes just over nine months after the startup raised $80 million in a Series C round of funding at an $830 million valuation.
Valor Equity Partners led the latest financing, which the company described as “preemptive.” Previous lead backers Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst also doubled down “significantly.” Put simply, Nirvana’s goal is to build “the world’s first AI-powered operating system for insurance.” The startup uses real-time driving telematics and 30 billion miles of truck-driving data to build and manage insurance policies for truckers. CEO Rushil Goel started Nirvana in 2021 after spending years running product at Samsara, an AI-powered fleet management and safety platform. There, he said, he saw firsthand how heavily safe and responsible trucking fleets “were penalized by the rising costs of one-size-fits-all insurance rates based on old industry data.” “It was survival stakes,” he recalled. “Expensive policies literally drove some fleets out of business.” His goal with Nirvana is to use the telematics data those fleets already generate “to build a more fair and transparent model.” Nirvana has trained its models on more than 30 billion driving miles and vehicles’ telematics that show details such as speed, selected routes and driver behavior. “This allows us to reward safe fleets with more accurate and often lower premiums, helping them save money and making roads safe,” Goel told Crunchbase News. He also claims the company is able to underwrite “with speed and precision” and “price risk in real time.” On top of providing insurance, Nirvana claims it gives fleets the tools to reduce accidents before they happen. The raise comes at a time when insurtech funding overall is down, and deal counts are at a multiyear record low. So far in 2025, global insurance-related startups have pulled in about $4 billion in seed-through growth-stage financing, per Crunchbase data — less than one-fourth of the 2021 peak dollars raised — with deal counts also on the decline. VCs bet Nirvana can transform ‘trillion-dollar industry stuck in the past’ Nirvana raised its $3.2 million seed round in January 2021, co-led by General Catalyst and Lightspeed. In total, it has raised more than $260 million in funding. While Goel declined to reveal hard revenue figures, he said that Nirvana has doubled its year-over-year premium growth. It has also doubled its staff to around 200 compared to a year ago. Nirvana says it serves “thousands” of motor carriers. Its customers range from single-owner and -operator carriers to fleets with more than 500 trucks. The startup’s revenue model is to charge an annual insurance term with upfront discounts based on the historical telematics data it analyzes with its proprietary models. Interestingly, Nirvana is not Goel’s first startup venture. Besides serving as the VP/GM of fleet at Samsara, he also co-founded AirCare, a digital health startup. Vivek Pattipati, partner at Valor Equity Partners, said in a release that this round isn’t just about reinforcing Nirvana’s approach to proprietary telematics data, deep machine learning expertise, and execution in underwriting and claims. “It’s an opportunity for us to stake a claim in redefining an industry and exploring how Nirvana will apply its “N of 1” AI capabilities to benefit customers beyond market-leading insurance products,” he said. Lightspeed partner Raviraj Jain believes that Nirvana has “executed flawlessly” since the firm first invested in its seed round. He said: “Commercial insurance is a trillion-dollar industry stuck in the past, and it’s been incredible to see how quickly Nirvana’s AI models have been able to deliver material benefits to customers.” Related Crunchbase query: Funding to Insurtech Startups, 2025 Related reading: Exclusive: Insurtech Startup Inclined Raises $8M For Offering That Was ‘Historically Reserved For The Wealthy’ Sector Snapshot: Insurtech Funding Is Way Down, But AI Is Still Driving Some Big Deals Exclusive: Trucker’s Son Bucks Logistics Funding Decline With $40M Raise For Startup Alvys Illustration: Dom Guzman TagsAI insurtech startups transportation unicorn venture Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily. At least 126,352 workers at U.S.-based tech companies have been laid off in mass job cuts so far in 2025, per a Crunchbase News tally, and the cuts... This year, investors put just over $24 billion across all stages into startups in Crunchbase's cleantech-, electric vehicle- and sustainability... AI was the leading sector for startup funding globally from 2023 through 2025. As the sector reshapes the venture industry, here are six charts to... AI is moving from an era of heavy investment in invention toward an innovation phase where systems take on true decision-making roles, writes guest...