Guidewire agrees to buy London insurtech hyperexponential for $1.7bn, plus up to $400m more
The US insurance software group is paying $1.7 billion in cash for the London-based maker of AI underwriting and pricing software, with up to $400 million more tied to recurring revenue targets.
Guidewire, the US maker of core software for property and casualty (P&C) insurers, has agreed to acquire Hyperexponential Ltd, the London-based company known as hyperexponential or hx. According to Guidewire's press release of 27 October 2026, the base purchase price is $1.7 billion in cash, subject to adjustments, with up to $400 million in additional contingent consideration if specified recurring revenue targets are met.
That puts the potential total at $2.1 billion, as Reuters reported. Guidewire announced the deal at its Connections conference in Las Vegas and expects it to close in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2027.
What hyperexponential does
hyperexponential builds what Guidewire calls an agentic platform for AI-native underwriting and pricing software, aimed at commercial lines P&C insurers. According to the announcement, its software has powered underwriting decisions across more than $75 billion in annual commercial P&C premium for insurers, reinsurers and managing general agents (MGAs). Customers named in the release include Aviva, Allianz, Sompo, Beazley, Markel, HDI, Cincinnati Financial, Convex and Bowhead.
Guidewire says hyperexponential has "a particularly strong presence among commercial and specialty insurers in the United Kingdom". The two companies already worked together: hyperexponential is an existing partner in Guidewire's PartnerConnect technology alliance programme.
The pitch: agentic underwriting
Guidewire frames the deal around what it calls agentic underwriting, in which AI agents work alongside underwriters and actuaries to assess risk, price it and make decisions. "Guidewire and hyperexponential are uniquely positioned to deliver industry-specific AI solutions that will transform commercial underwriting," said Guidewire chief executive Mike Rosenbaum in the release.
"We founded hyperexponential on the conviction that underwriting judgment is the highest-leverage work insurers do," said Amrit Santhirasenan, hyperexponential's CEO and co-founder.
How the deal is financed
Guidewire plans to fund the purchase with $1.0 billion in new term loan financing and existing cash on hand, and says it has a binding debt commitment from Bank of America and Citibank. Guidewire, whose products are used by more than 570 insurers in 44 countries according to the company, expects the acquisition to add at least 650 basis points to its fiscal 2027 ARR growth on an inorganic basis, and at least 150 basis points to organic ARR growth from fiscal 2028.
The deal will not affect Guidewire's guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, which it issued on 3 September 2026, the company says.
Centerview Partners and Latham & Watkins advised Guidewire. J.P. Morgan was exclusive financial adviser to hyperexponential, with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (UK) as legal counsel.
A capital-light path to a billion-dollar exit
hyperexponential's disclosed venture funding is modest relative to the price. It raised a £13 million Series A led by Highland Europe in 2021, as UK Tech News reported at the time, and a $73 million Series B in January 2024 led by Battery Ventures, with Andreessen Horowitz co-investing and Highland Europe increasing its stake, according to the company.
In that 2024 announcement, Santhirasenan said the company had "more cash-on-hand than we've raised", and hyperexponential said it had grown sales tenfold since its Series A while staying profitable. The Series B also brought a familiar name onto its board: Battery Ventures partner Marcus Ryu, who is a co-founder, chairman and former CEO of Guidewire, according to the same release.
What it means for European founders and investors
For European founders building vertical software, the deal is a clear signal that incumbents in regulated industries will pay up for AI products that are already embedded in customers' core workflows. hyperexponential did not win this price as a general AI tool. It won it by owning a narrow, high-value decision inside insurers, pricing and underwriting complex commercial risks, and by building a client list of large European and global carriers.
The earn-out structure is also worth noting. Up to $400 million of the headline value depends on recurring revenue targets, so part of the price is a bet on growth after the deal closes. Founders negotiating exits in the current market should expect buyers to share risk in this way, especially for AI products.
For investors, the outcome supports the case for capital-efficient B2B software in London's insurance market. It also adds to a run of strategic deals for European data and financial software companies, such as LSEG's agreement to buy Octus and AmTrust's purchase of French embedded insurer Wakam. Insurers and their software suppliers are betting that AI will change how risk is priced, and they are buying rather than building to get there.
The next step is closing, which Guidewire expects in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2027. It plans to update its full-year guidance on its next earnings call in December.
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