The latest acquisition news for you;
hipages has acquired a majority stake in VIZ Insurance, a digital-first insurance platform purpose-built for Australian tradies.
The deal reflects a broader shift underway across insurance and technology: platforms that already own customer relationships are increasingly moving into embedded financial products, including insurance, as a way to deepen engagement, improve retention, and expand revenue streams.
Building a modern insurance experience for tradies
Founded in 2016, VIZ provides specialised insurance products across more than 85 trade occupations through a digital-first ecommerce experience designed for small trade businesses.
Customers can receive a quote in around two minutes and purchase a policy in under six, significantly reducing friction in a category that has historically been slow and operationally cumbersome.
For hipages, which supports more than 35,000 trade businesses across Australia and New Zealand, insurance was a logical extension of their business: an operationally essential product that can deepen customer engagement while creating new revenue opportunities.
For VIZ, the deal provides access to scaled distribution and validates the company’s strategy of building a distribution-ready insurance platform designed for embedded and partner-led growth.
VIZ Executive Director Simon O’Dell said:
“This acquisition is a strong validation of the model we’ve been building. We designed VIZ specifically for small trade businesses, with a focus on speed, simplicity, and products that genuinely fit how tradies operate.
The strength of the model is that VIZ can integrate directly into trusted distribution channels like hipages, where insurance becomes part of the broader workflow rather than a separate, fragmented purchase.
We’ve already seen strong performance from embedded and partner-led distribution channels, which now represent more than half of our income.”
From underwriting agency to scalable platform
Insurtech Gateway Australia backed VIZ in May 2023 and worked closely with the business to support its operational transformation, platform development, and strategic positioning.
Over the past three years, VIZ has transitioned from a traditional underwriting agency into a scalable digital insurance platform, materially improving conversion rates, reducing customer acquisition costs, and growing revenue.
The business also recently launched Australia’s first digital wallet insurance card for tradies, allowing customers to access dynamic certificates of insurance directly from their smartphone.
The VIZ journey reflects Insurtech Gateway’s broader venture-building approach: helping early-stage insurance businesses combine specialist insurance expertise, operational support, and distribution strategy to build scalable and defensible companies.
Roby Sharon-Zipser, CEO and Co-Founder of hipages Group, said:
“The VIZ team has developed an innovative digital-first platform targeted at tradies that is a perfect fit for hipages. We look forward to continuing to grow the business as part of the broader hipages ecosystem.”
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