Guidewire agrees to buy London underwriting software firm hyperexponential

Guidewire agrees to buy London underwriting software firm hyperexponential

27 October 2026: Guidewire, the US maker of core systems for property and casualty insurers, has signed a definitive agreement to buy hyperexponential, a London company whose software insurers use to price and underwrite commercial risks. Guidewire will pay a base price of $1.7 billion in cash, subject to adjustments, and up to $400 million more if specified recurring revenue targets are met.

Not yet independently verified. This rests on the parties' joint release, which we read on hyperexponential's newsroom; Guidewire's own copy was not reachable at the address we tried. The release does not set out closing conditions or regulatory approvals, or the revenue targets behind the contingent payment. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The deal was announced on 27 October at Guidewire's Connections conference in Las Vegas. Guidewire expects it to close in the second quarter of its 2027 fiscal year.

What hyperexponential brings

hyperexponential, often shortened to hx, describes itself as an agentic platform for AI-native underwriting and pricing in commercial lines. Its software covers submission triage, risk assessment, pricing, rating and portfolio steering, and the companies say it has powered underwriting decisions across more than $75 billion in annual commercial premium.

Its named customers include Aviva, Allianz, Sompo, Beazley, Markel, HDI, Cincinnati Financial, Convex and Bowhead, and the release notes a particularly strong presence among UK commercial and specialty insurers. It was already a technology partner in Guidewire's PartnerConnect programme, so many joint customers run the two products side by side today.

"We founded hyperexponential on the conviction that underwriting judgment is the highest-leverage work insurers do," says Amrit Santhirasenan, its chief executive and co-founder. Mike Rosenbaum, Guidewire's chief executive, says no other company's "vision for the potential of AI in insurance" aligns so closely with Guidewire's own.

How Guidewire is paying for it

Guidewire will fund the deal with a new $1.0 billion term loan and cash on hand, and has a binding debt commitment from Bank of America and Citibank. It expects the acquisition to add at least 650 basis points to annual recurring revenue growth in fiscal 2027 through the acquisition itself, and at least 150 basis points a year to organic ARR growth from fiscal 2028.

The deal does not change the first-quarter guidance Guidewire issued on 3 September; second-quarter and updated full-year guidance will come with its December results. Centerview Partners and Latham & Watkins advised Guidewire; J.P. Morgan and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised hyperexponential.

Questions for insurers on either platform

For hx customers that do not run Guidewire's core systems, the practical question is whether the pricing platform stays open to other policy administration systems, and on what terms once contracts come up for renewal. The release talks about "agentic underwriting" across the combined products but says nothing about continued support for rival cores.

Guidewire customers, for their part, should expect hx to be offered alongside their core system. The release says Guidewire serves more than 570 insurers in 44 countries. Our catalogue lists 1,085 artificial intelligence companies; hyperexponential has no listing with us yet.

Company profile on TrustList: hyperexponential

Sources

• hyperexponential: Guidewire signs definitive agreement to acquire hyperexponential (joint release), 27 October 2026
• TechCrunch: Guidewire buys hyperexponential for $1.7B in cash, 27 October 2026