insurance

Pet insurance startups chase the market as pet ownership booms among Gen Z and Millennials • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 11, 2022Posted in Fintech, insurance, Pets, Startups, VentureNo Comments

Walk through any public park these days and you will see a hell of a lot more dogs than you might have done three years ago. The loneliness of the pandemic lockdowns led to an explosion in pet ownership. Plus, The demographic of pet ownership has shifted. Whereas previously it was Granny or Grandpa who tended to be the pet owner, now, Gen Z and Millennials represent around 70% of pet owners, according to some statistics. This has created a big fight between insurers over this new market, and has of course predictably led to new startups in the arena. In the UK you can find UK ManyPets, Waggle, PetPlan, while in the US there’s Lemonade, Figo, ManyPets and Trupanion. Over in the EU you’ll find Dalma (France), Lassie (Sweden) and ManyPets (Sweden). Meanwhile, pet insurance start-up Napo has decided to take a particular angle on this topic, not only offering pet insurance but also pet health prevention information, pet ownership education, and additional services. It’s now raised a £15m Series A funding round, led by DN Capital, and with the participation of the petcare-focussed Companion Fund as well as Helvetia Venture Fund, M Tech Capital, Picus Capital, dmg ventures, Sarona Partners, T0 Ventures and FJ Labs. Napo claims to have insured over 35k pets in the year since its launch last December. It offers access to 24/7 online vet consultations, obesity awareness resources, and access to expert-led live classes to help puppy train their dogs. In a statement, co-founder and CEO Jean-Philippe Doumeng said: “Our mental model is fundamentally different from traditional pet insurance. We are aligning all stakeholders to look in the same direction by helping people to take better care of their pets.” Guy Ward Thomas, who led the deal at DN Capital, added: “We met all of the ‘neo pet-insurers’ in Europe… What set Napo apart was their focus on building a virtuous circle between educating owners, providing veterinary care and improving pet health – all leading to lower claims, lower premiums and happier customers in the long-term.”

Evy wants to offer product protection insurance everywhere • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 26, 2022Posted in Evy, Fintech, insurance, insurtech, product protection, StartupsNo Comments

Meet Evy, a French startup that is working on extended warranties and product protection insurance. The company raised a $6.5 million seed round (€6.5 million) from Sequoia, La Famiglia VC, Global Founders Capital and several business angels. Evy wants to bring an AppleCare experience to other brands and retailers. Essentially, the startup wants to create a seamless experience when it comes to adding product protection at checkout and some good coverage out of the box. The startup acts as an insurance broker and partners with Wakam to cover the risk — but it could also partner with other insurance companies in the future. On the other side, it partners with retailers so that they embed Evy’s insurance products on their sites or try to sell an extended warranty in stores. For instance, Evy has signed a partnership with ManoMano, a home improvement and gardening e-commerce platform that I’ve covered over the years. When a customer is buying a product on ManoMano, they can add multi-year coverage against breakage, breakdown and/or theft. What makes Evy stand out from legacy players is that it can create custom-made insurance products in very little time. For instance, ManoMano has 25 different product categories across four countries. Evy has created 25 tailor-made insurance programs in just a few months. Similarly, retailers can develop deep integrations with Evy as the insurtech startup focuses on API-based integrations. If there is something wrong with the product, Evy first tries to find a solution to fix the product. It plans to put together a repair network. If it doesn’t work, Evy makes a payment to the customer. And the distribution method should work quite well as Evy shares some revenue with its retail partners. Some big retailers, such as Darty or Best Buy, already generate important revenue from insurance products. Evy wants to offer a solution for the long tail of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores. Evy isn’t just an insurance play. There’s a bigger vision around product lifecycles. “Eventually we want to offer all customer services that are associated with products. They are useful for both the merchant and the end user,” co-founder and CEO Simon Kemoun told me. “They are all switching to the circular economy. We know when a product is under warranty and we know when there has been no incident. We can issue a trade-in offer so that you can get the most recent product,” he added. There are some companies in the U.S. focusing on the same industry, such as Clyde and Extend. In France, Evy competes with Neat.