With 'fuel in the tank', HDVI’s Spitz says trucking insurtech focused on enterprise value

By James Thaler

June 29 - (The Insurer) - Trucking insurtech HDVI is focused on building enterprise value and achieving profitability after new funding earlier this year put "fuel in the tank", co-founder and CEO Reid Spitz told The Insurer.

Spitz was originally chief operating officer before taking over as chief product officer and then as president last year, before stepping into the chief executive role at the beginning of 2025.

The Insurer reported in February that HDVI, which launched in 2017, had raised $40 million in extra funding in what Spitz admitted was a "hard market" for the company, which specializes in commercial auto insurance for mid-fleet trucking businesses and has a portfolio of more than $50 million in gross written premium.

"We've secured the financing, and that puts a lot of capital to scale and fuel in the tank to grow the company," Spitz said around the time of the inside round, which was co-led by existing investors Munich Re Ventures, Weatherford Capital, 8VC and Autotech Ventures.

HDVI has also expanded its reinsurance panel for 2025, adding three new major reinsurers, with three of its four capacity backers carrying an A-plus AM Best rating.

HDVI writes four lines of coverage – auto liability, general liability, physical damage and cargo – targeting fleets with five to 150 power units across 25 states, covering about 80% of the trucking market.

Last year, the company cut 19 staff, primarily in engineering and product roles, and now employs around 70 people, with claims and business development roles unaffected by the workforce reduction.

"We tried to really maintain roles that would keep our levels of service up for our customers," he said, adding that there was “very little impact” on underwriting positions.

Spitz said that HDVI is now focused on building value for potential strategic acquirers or future funding rounds with growth-stage backers.

"Our primary focus right now is in building enterprise value," Spitz said.

“We got a lot of market feedback (during the fundraise) on where we need to continue to invest in the business that creates enterprise value, either for a strategic acquirer or for a growth stage, like private equity, or late stage insurance investor,” he commented.

"If there were strategics out there that were interested in HDVI and it was a clear strategic fit, and we thought it was a good deal for us, then we would be open to those conversations,” he said, adding: "Our primary path here is to continue to build independently and build enterprise value and move forward with a future round of financing with a growth stage partner.”

The $40 million will be deployed into growth, model development and operational scaling to reach cash flow break-even.

The company distributes its products exclusively through the retail channel through specialist trucking retail agents and does not work with wholesalers or generalists.

Spitz said that HDVI currently owns a single-cell captive that takes some risk alongside the insurtech’s reinsurance panel, adding that it would be "open to exploring" raising statutory capital for a statutory entity.