Lerer Hippeau is a seed-stage venture capital firm founded and operated in New York City. Since 2010, they have invested in entrepreneurs with great ideas who aren’t afraid to do hard things. Their portfolio includes more than 400 enterprise and consumer businesses including Guideline, MIRROR, Blockdaemon, K Health, Allbirds, ZenBusiness, and Thrive. They’re experienced operators who invest early and stay in their founders’ corners as they build iconic companies.

Lerer Hippeau

Slow Ventures is a community built on the collective experience and fueled by curiosity, Slow understands the entrepreneurial journey. Investing at the center of technology and on the edges of science, society, and culture, Slow gives founders the resources, connections, experiences, and empathy required to build strong, sustainable companies.

Slow Ventures

GFC is a globally oriented, stage agnostic venture capital firm that empowers gifted entrepreneurs. The firm seeks to invest in companies that operate within the internet, retail, financial software, media, communication, and information technology sectors. It was founded by Oliver Samwer in 2013 and is based in Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Global Founders Capital

Firstminute Capital is a European seed fund based in London. Moreover, Firstminute invests in European early-stage tech companies. The firm was founded in 2017 by Brent Hoberman and Spencer Crawley.

Firstminute Capital

Raven One Ventures is an early-stage venture fund, focusing on innovative opportunities with significant disruptive abilities.

Raven One Ventures

a generalist investment firm focused on hyper growth-stage companies, following sectors from Seed to Series C.

Montauk Ventures

Ranger Insurance

ranger insurance is a reimagining home insurance with a modern digital platform that empowers agents to better serve clients and build their businesses.

Ranger is a managing general agent (MGA) that offers home and auto insurance as well as home warranty policies through its digital platform. It also provides a full-stack digital platform for agents that automates administrative tasks, provides instant access to underwriting support, and predicts customer needs over time to generate better leads and sell its policies.

New insurance models are disrupting a centuries-old industry with a focus on personalization and convenience.

Neo Insurance

Ranger

Ranger is a managing general agent (MGA) that offers home and auto insurance as well as home warranty policies through its digital platform. It also provides a full-stack digital platform for agents that automates administrative tasks, provides instant access to underwriting support, and predicts customer needs over time to generate better leads and sell its policies.The company also offers a product for agencies to grow their business and enhance customer relationships called <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23056">Ranger Station</a>.This is a standalone product that includes its proprietary risk score, providing a detailed analysis of a customer's life and risk factors, which agents can use to automatically build personalized insurance portfolios for their customers.&nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17286">March 2023</a>, the company launched its services in Arizona and had plans to expand through a multi-state national rollout, with Indiana and Ohio next in the pipeline.Funding and financialsIn July 2022, Ranger raised USD 5.25 million in a seed round led by Lerer Hippeau Ventures with participation from former MLB athlete Alex Rodriguez, Firstminute Capital, Slow Ventures, and Global Founders Capital.

<div>
 
 Root Insurance is a full-stack insurance provider focusing on usage-based automobile insurance. The company offers a mobile app that collects data on driving speeds, braking patterns, and driving times using smartphone sensors, and applies artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive models to offer a personalized premium to the customer. The company claimed that the latest model utilizes double the proprietary data, demonstrating 17% greater predictive capabilities than the previous model. Moreover, the app incentivizes safe driving by providing greater insight into one&rsquo;s driving patterns and issuing additional discounts for improved driving behavior. Root allows customers to file claims directly through the mobile app. As of December 2021, Root held a carrier license in 48 states and offered automobile insurance in 32 states&mdash;most recently in Kansas.
 
 
 In July 2019, Root launched its renters&rsquo; insurance product and expanded to homeowners insurance in May 2020. The homeowners&rsquo; insurance is provided through a partnership with Homesite Insurance, a Boston-based property and casualty insurer that will underwrite any homeowners insurance policies issued by Root. As of June 2021, the company&rsquo;s renters&rsquo; insurance product was available in eight states.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Root had 203,840 policies in force as of June 2023.
 
 
 Root entered into a partnership with Carvana in July 2022, to offer usage-based auto insurance policies on the latter&rsquo;s used-car online platform.
 
 
 In addition, it had also collaborated with other players in the insurance space to optimize and digitize its insurance services.In January 2021, Root partnered with Tractable, a UK-based provider of AI-based solutions, to leverage its AI Subro solution to optimize Root&rsquo;s end-to-end claims process, starting with subrogation, where two insurance carriers negotiate the division of expenses when multiple parties are involved in a claim. It also partnered with CCC Intelligence Solutions in February 2023, to use its first-party casualty solution to streamline and digitize first- and third-party casualty claims through a single digital workflow.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In October 2020, Root sold 26.8 million shares in its initial public offering (IPO), raising USD 724.4 million in the process at a valuation of USD 6.8 billion. In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8089">
 January 2022
 </a>
 , Root received a five-year term loan of USD 300 million from BlackRock Financial Management (BlackRock) to extend its debt maturity and improve its liquidity position.
 
 
 For the full year of 2022, Root reported total revenue of USD 310.8 million (down 10.0% YoY), while its net losses improved to USD 297.7 million from a loss of USD 521.1 million in 2021. Its gross loss ratio improved to 82.1% from 86.0% in 2021.
 
 
 
</div>

Root Insurance

<div>
 
 Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) launched its mobile-focused usage-based insurance (UBI) platform in 2012, enabling insurers to build their own UBI products. The company&rsquo;s product suite includes a white-label mobile app (DriveWell) and an Internet of Things (IoT) tag that collects telematics data that insurers can use to assess risk, incentivize behavioral change through gamification, and reconstruct crashes for accurate claims processing. The app also notifies insurers instantly during an accident, allowing them to dispatch help and begin the claims process. It also enables insurers to detect fraudulent claims based on telematics data.
 
 
 In June 2021, the company acquired TrueMotion, a developer of telematics solutions for auto insurance, for an undisclosed amount. Founded in 2012, TrueMotion helps insurers develop their own usage-based insurance products by allowing developers to build mobile apps on top of its platform which collects information from smartphone sensors in relation to an individual's driving behavior. The platform also includes telematic data features to file claims using the app and other value-added services such as good driving incentives and quick accident responses following a crash. TrueMotion&rsquo;s telematics solution can also be used by fleet operators to monitor the driving patterns of its drivers. Through the acquisition, the two companies will combine their products to bolster CMT&rsquo;s offerings and expand the company&rsquo;s geographical reach. 
 
 
 In addition, CMT acquired Amodo, a turnkey usage-based auto insurance solutions provider based in Europe 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16753">
 in March 2023
 </a>
 , for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, Amodo will operate under the CMT brand and will gain access to its advanced telematics solutions. Through the acquisition, CMT aimed to accelerate its global reach and strengthen its position in Europe.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of March 2023, CMT&rsquo;s technology-powered 95 enterprise programs across 25 countries including nine in continental Europe. In addition, its solutions are used by 21 of the top 25 insurers in the US, including insurers such as StateFarm, Liberty Mutual, and Progressive. CMT&rsquo;s solutions are also used by rideshare companies and large fleet operators.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s last funding round was in December 2018, where it raised USD 500 million from SoftBank&rsquo;s Vision Fund, with plans to expand its platform.
 
</div>

Cambridge Mobile Telematics

<div>
 
 Hippo is a digital homeowner insurance provider. The company offers its homeowner policies online, with each policy accompanied by a complementary smart home monitoring system that will help identify risks proactively. It provides coverage using a combination of machine learning, satellite imagery, and other public records and actively reviews for any changes to the property overtime.
 
 
 Hippo also provides home insurance to buyers of newly built homes that is directly integrated to the digital mortgage and title process through its Builders business. Further, it launched 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16051">
 Hippo Builder Insurance Agency (HBIA)
 </a>
 in January 2023, to allow builders of all sizes to partner with HBIA to send leads of homeowners in return for a fee.
 
 
 The company also offers an on-demand homecare and maintenance app (Hippo Homecare) which it launched in 2019 following the acquisition of Sheltr, a home maintenance platform, during the same year. It also launched &ldquo;Book a Pro'' feature within its mobile app in Q4 2022, which allows homeowners based in Texas to connect to home improvement professionals as well as message its Hippo&rsquo;s own home care experts to get advice. Hippo also plans to roll-out this feature to other states in the future.
 
 
 In June 2020, Hippo entered into an agreement to acquire long-time insurance partner Spinnaker Insurance Company, which is a property and casualty insurer registered in all 50 states, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was expected to help the company expand its geographical reach. The company&rsquo;s homeowner offering was available in 40 states as of January 2023.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Hippo had 332,000 customers as of September 2022, and it claimed nearly 75% of its new customers were Gen B.
 
 
 The company partnered with property and casualty risk intelligence company, 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17629">
 Opterrix in April 2023
 </a>
 , to leverage its real-time data on severe weather events to identify at-risk policyholders and improve its claims management capabilities.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In November 2020, Hippo raised USD 350 million from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance company. The company expects to use this funding to support its national expansion plans and also evaluate acquisition opportunities to grow inorganically.
 
 
 For FY2022, the company recorded total generated premiums of USD 811.1 million, which was up 33.8% YoY. Its gross loss ratio improved 62 percentage points to 76% during the year, while its net loss improved 10.2% YoY to USD 333.4 million.
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

Hippo Insurance

Clearcover is a fully digital automobile insurance provider that offers insurance coverage and claims filing using online channels along with other value-added services such as roadside assistance. The company leverages AI and machine learning models to provide personalized pricing to its customers and validate claims. The company states that it can handle 96% of all claims virtually. Clearcover also launched a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27767">GenAI-powered claims intake tool</a> to navigate a conversation-driven experience after First Notice of Loss (FNOL) to collect information about an accident. The tool available through its mobile app includes a claims assistant and a real-time customer question resolution feature. It plans to incorporate the tool into its agent portal and website in the future.Clearcover also uses an application programming interface (API) to offer embedded car insurance. This powers <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21232">Choice, </a>an end-to-end embedded auto insurance solution that allows brands to provide auto insurance policy options from various carriers to their customers.As of January 2024, Clearcover offered its policies in 19 states in the US.Key customers and partnershipsIn May 2020, Clearcover partnered with claims management solution vendor Snapsheet to fully digitize its own claims function from First Notification of Losses (FNOLs) to disbursements. Moreover, it collaborated with Experian to offer car insurance on the latter’s insurance comparison site <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18045">in April 2023 </a>. This was part of Clearcover’s strategy to expand its distribution channels.Fundings and financialsIn April 2021, the company raised USD 200 million in a Series D funding round, led by Eldridge, at a valuation in excess of USD 1 billion. The company expects to use the funding toward product development and increasing headcount.For FY2022, the company generated total direct premiums written of USD 140.7 million (up 79% YoY) and recorded USD 61.4 million in net premiums earned. Its net losses amounted to USD 38.7 million for the year, while its loss ratio and combined loss ratios stood at 115% and 158%, respectively.

Clearcover

<div>
 
 Shift Technology, based in France, provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for insurers to automate claims and detect fraud during the underwriting and claims processing stages. The company’s platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and a combination of internal and third-party data to flag potentially fraudulent claims. Furthermore, it provides a white-label mobile app that takes advantage of the company’s fraud detection capabilities and enables insurers to streamline their entire claims functions from First Notification of Losses (FNOLs) to disbursements. In addition to France, the company maintains regional offices in the US, Japan, the UK, Spain, and Singapore.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of May 2021, the company had a workforce of 350 people, and it claimed to have analyzed ~2 billion claims globally. It also worked with more than 100 customers across 25 countries, including insurance companies such as AXA, Generali France, and Mitsui Sumitomo. 
 
 
 Shift collaborated with big data provider Legentic in April 2022, through which it aimed to allow its customers access structured data to minimize fraudulent claims and improve claims processing times. It also formed strategic partnerships to integrate its product as part of other insurtech’s product offerings such as with Sapiens, providing the latter’s customers with alerts regarding fraudulent claims.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In May 2021, Shift Technology raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/2834">
 USD 220 million in a Series D 
 </a>
 funding in a round led by Advent International at a valuation of over USD 1 billion. The company expected to use the funding to expand its presence in the property and casualty market and also venture into other insurance verticals such as health. The funding was to also be channeled toward accelerating business growth in the US. In November 2021, the company received an undisclosed investment from Guidewire, as an 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6418">
 extension to its Series D
 </a>
 round. The company was to use the new funds to further develop its technology and support its go-to-market strategies.
 
</div>

Shift Technology

IoTs used to proactively mitigate risks and offer usage-based insurance

Used for underwriting and claims; infrastructure providers offer AI/ML products to traditional insurers

Limited number of life insurers use genetic/epigenetics to underwrite life insurance

Uses personal data to underwrite and price personalized policies such as usage-based insurance for vehicles

Infrastructure and embedded solutions are offered under a B2B SaaS model

Startups in the automobile insurance space, predominantly providing usage-based insurance using telematics devices and/or smartphone sensors.

Startups that offer homeowners and renters insurance using artificial intelligence (AI) and smart home devices to issue policies and validate claims.

Ranger

Neo Insurance

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FinTech (Q4 2023): GenAI gains momentum; BNPL booms despite overall funding dip

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Ranger rolls out its policies in Arizona

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