Insurtech Hippo secures $25m to fund expansion
California-based insurtech company Hippo has raised $25 million in Series B funding, led by Comcast Ventures and Fifth Wall, and other fintech investors.
Hippo is focussed on transforming home insurance, and aims to expand its coverage to over 60 percent of the US population by the end of 2018. The company leverages big data, like municipal building records, and innovative technology, such as satellite imagery and smart home devices, to streamline the quote and onboarding experience.
According to the press release, the new investment funding will be used to support the company's expansion and development initiatives planned for 2018, including opening a new customer service centre in Austin, Texas, that will serve as the hub for Hippo’s claims advocate concierges, along with its insurance operations teams. Since its launch in California in April 2017, the company has expanded to Arizona and Texas.
“Hippo is reimagining homeowners insurance with a customer-centric model, built from the ground up,” said Assaf Wand, Hippo co-founder and CEO. “Homeowners insurance is an antiquated industry that has lost its way. Up to sixty-five percent of all homeowner claims result from catastrophic events. Whether it’s damage from a hurricane or wildfire, the last thing homeowners should have to deal with is a complicated battle with their insurance carrier. We get our customers what they need immediately, so the claims process doesn’t become another crisis they have to deal with.”
In December 2016, Hippo had already closed $14 million in Series A funding from Horizons Ventures, joined by RPM Ventures, Propel Venture Partners, GGV Capital and Pipeline Capital.
Sam Landman, managing director of Comcast Ventures, said: “More and more complex financial purchases are being made online, yet the insurance industry has fallen short of providing homeowners with a digitally delivered product that provides the quality of service consumers deserve. We invested in Hippo because the team is executing against their vision to build a more modern, consumer-focused product with proprietary internal tools that we believe will create a sustainable operational advantage.”
Brendan Wallace, co-founder and managing partner of Fifth Wall, added: “There’s a massive opportunity to reimagine the way home insurance is bought, sold and serviced by combining big data and personal assistance with better, cheaper and more comprehensive coverage. US homebuilders similarly want to digitize all aspects of the home-buying experience and home insurance remains a largely offline, antiquated financial product. After evaluating the whole category of next-generation home insurance providers with our strategic real estate investors, Fifth Wall is excited to be partnering with Hippo to dramatically accelerate its growth through real estate partnerships.”
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