AXA Launches Venture Capital Fund to Foster Entrepreneurial Discovery in Insurance and Financial Services, Improve Customer Experience

AXA today announced the launch of AXA Strategic Ventures, a €200M venture capital fund dedicated to emerging strategic innovations relevant to insurance, asset management, financial technology and healthcare service industries. AXA Strategic Ventures will have on-the-ground coverage of investment opportunities worldwide. In the U.S., AXA Strategic Ventures will have offices in San Francisco and New York.

Francois Robinet, chairman of AXA Strategic Ventures (Photo: Business Wire)

"AXA will share its global reach and expertise to serve as an accelerator for start-up companies that bring new, customer-focused ideas to insurance and financial services,” said Anders Malmstrom, chief financial officer of AXA U.S. and a member of the Strategy Committee of AXA Strategic Ventures. "We will target emerging companies at all stages of growth that are strategically relevant and offer attractive returns. The fund advances our digital and customer strategy in the U.S. by connecting our people and our business with new technologies, new solutions, and new ways of thinking.”

"I am very excited to lead a team of strong, experienced professionals that will combine a global perspective with deep knowledge of the local ecosystems of the markets in which AXA operates,” said Francois Robinet, chairman of AXA Strategic Ventures.

The fund’s longer-term technology focus complements AXA’s major operating investments, across all entities, into research and digital development that transform how customers experience AXA.

As a global leader in insurance and asset management, AXA will aim, through the fund, to provide start-up companies with capital, technical expertise and market access. AXA has successfully seeded start-ups in Europe and launches with investments in five portfolio companies including Particeep, Widmee, Flyr International, Fundshop and ClimateSecure. These firms bring the latest technology to the areas of investing, customer acquisition, travel insurance and climate change consulting.

More Info

Find more information about AXA Strategic Ventures, including a video message from Francois Robinet and Anders Malmstrom, on the AXA US Newsroom on www.axa.com and at www.axastrategicventures.com

More information on AXA Strategic Ventures’ portfolio companies to date:

• Particeep: www.particeep.com/ (in French)
• Widmee: www.widmee.com/
• FlyR International: www.flyrlabs.com/
• Fundshop: www.fundshop.fr/ (in French)
• ClimateSecure: http://www.climatesecure.eu/climatesecure-en.html

About AXA

"AXA” is a brand name of AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC and its family of companies, including AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (NY, NY), MONY Life Insurance Company of America (AZ stock company, administrative office: Jersey City, NJ), AXA Advisors, LLC, and AXA Distributors, LLC. In business since 1859, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company is a leading financial protection company and one of the nation’s premier providers of life insurance, annuity, and financial products and services distributed to individuals and business owners through its retail distribution channel, AXA Advisors, LLC (member FINRA, SIPC) and to the financial services market through its wholesale distribution channel, AXA Distributors, LLC.

AXA S.A. is a Paris-headquartered holding company for a group of international insurance and financial services companies, including AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC companies. AXA S.A. is a worldwide leader in financial protection strategies and wealth management with 102 million clients in 56 countries as of December 31, 2013.

The obligations of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company and MONY Life Insurance Company of America are backed solely by their claims-paying ability.

Find AXA on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For more information, visit www.axa.com

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150225006515/en/