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        Surround Insurance, a digital driving, renting, and freelancing insurance provider, raised USD 2.5 million in a seed funding round led by MassMutual through its MM Catalyst Fund, with participation from Aperture VC, Newark Venture Partners, and Cameron Ventures. The company&rsquo;s total funding following this round stands at USD 5.7 million.
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        It aims to use the fresh capital to expand its product portfolio as well as its distribution footprint. The company currently offers its products in Massachusetts, directly and through independent agents such as NerdWallet, and aims to expand its offerings to eight additional states in early 2023.
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    <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/11/21/2560122/0/en/Surround-Insurance-Raises-2-5M-Seed-Round-to-Help-Consumers-Navigate-Life-s-Transitions-with-Insurance-Built-Around-You.html">
      Company press release
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InsurTech: Personal Lines

Surround Insurance raises USD 2.5 million in seed funding

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<p>VOOM Insurance, a provider of usage-based insurance, has brought on board Thomas Coyne as the new head of insurance. Coyne will be instrumental in advancing the company's insurance operations. His brief includes focusing on product development and underwriting as the firm works on expanding its usage-based insurance services.</p>
<p>With a professional journey spanning over three decades in property and casualty insurance, Coyne has gathered extensive knowledge and experience. In the past, he has led product management at Mercury Insurance, where he was in charge of a personal lines portfolio worth USD 3.4 billion. Other notable roles included senior management positions at The Hartford and Travelers. Coyne recently built non-standard auto specialty programs for MGAs.</p>
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Voom Insurance names Thomas Coyne as head of insurance

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 <p>Branch, a digital home and auto insurance provider, is partnering with AI and tech solutions firm Liberate Innovations to make insurance claim processes more efficient.</p>
 <p>The new features of the partnership includes Voice AI and Digital First Notice of Loss (FNOL), allowing policyholders to make claims in less than five minutes via prefilled policy fields and an easy tap-and-click system. These features are integrated into Branch's platforms, allowing for smooth transfer of structured data and mitigating the need for manual input. Among the highlights is a fraud detection software that assigns fraud probability to submitted images. </p>
 <p>Through these advancements, the collaboration aims to decrease manual data entry, improve accuracy, enhance data integrity and efficiency in assigning vendors. Branch's intention is to provide a smoother customer experience, thereby highlighting its dedication to excellent service.</p>
 
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Branch partners with Liberate Innovations for streamlined claim journeys

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 <p>iCover, a cloud-based insurance underwriting platform, has introduced iCover Direct, an online insurance marketplace offering life, health, and wellness insurance products.</p>
 <p>iCover Direct acts as a virtual meeting place between community insurers and customers, with four carriers currently listed. The platform utilises QUI technology, featuring the industry's first non-reflexive eApp and an algorithmic decision engine to facilitate insurance buying. It also provides health insurance and wellness products through affiliate partnerships with companies like Hooray Health.</p>
 <p>According to iCover, the platform will improve the consumer buying experience by using its algorithm-based underwriting system, which can quote, underwrite, and deliver life insurance policies in less than five minutes. The company is also working on creating exclusive, competitively priced products specifically for iCover Direct.</p>
 
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iCover launches life insurance marketplace iCover Direct

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 <p>Digital landlord and homeowners insurance provider, Honeycomb Insurance, has extended its operations to Washington and Maryland, which increases its total presence to 18 states. Currently, they are insuring assets with a total insured value of over USD 35 billion.</p>
 <p>Honeycomb Insurance now caters to over 60% of the US population, extending their services across Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.</p>
 <p>Their expansion was marked by the launch of their new E&amp;S program, named "E&amp;S Lite". This program, backed by Atlanta-based insurer Builders, offers extended coverage options for landlords and condo associations who may not qualify for Honeycomb's admitted program.</p>
 
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Honeycomb expands insurance operations to Washington and Maryland, covering USD 35 billion in assets

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 <p>Digital banking solutions provider, Blend, has formed a partnership with digital insurance marketplace, Covered Insurance Solutions. This partnership will enable Blend to offer home insurance to its mortgage customers.</p>
 <p>As per the partnership, Covered's platform will be integrated directly into Blend's mortgage application workflow, granting homebuyers access to top-rated insurance companies across America. Covered will assume charge of Blend's insurance agency operations, transitioning from an internal model to one that is driven by this partnership.</p>
 <p>The main objective of this collaboration is to offer borrowers a broad choice of insurance providers and competitive value. In addition to that, it also assists lenders in streamlining the loan process by providing enhanced engagement tools and extensive insurance marketplace services.</p>
 
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Blend partners with Covered Insurance to offer home insurance for mortgage customers

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 <p>Apollo Insurance, a digital insurance provider in Canada, has teamed up with Townline, a property development and management firm. The partnership aims to provide digital insurance solutions for tenants. This collaboration allows for the integration of insurance purchases into Townline's leasing and renewal operations, offering a complete solution to property managers for tenant insurance compliance.</p>
 
 <p>The objective of this union is to simplify the insurance process for both residents and property managers. It accomplishes this by facilitating instant digital insurance transactions and automated compliance monitoring.</p>

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> This partnership between APOLLO Insurance and Townline follows a similar pattern to their September 2024 <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/33194"> collaboration with Payquad Solutions </a> , as both integrations focus on embedding digital insurance solutions directly into property management workflows.</p>

Apollo Insurance partners with Townline to provide digital tenant insurance solutions

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 <p>ManyPets, headquartered in the UK and providing digital pet insurance, is exiting the US market to concentrate on its domestic operations. To ensure continued coverage for its current American customers, it is collaborating with Odie Pet Insurance, with the renewed policies poised to take effect from January 1, 2025.</p>
 <p>The transition phase will entail customers of ManyPets receiving Odie Pet Insurance's renewal offers from November 1, 2024, which will subsequently need to obtain underwriting approval.</p>
 <p>ManyPets made its way into the US market in March 2021, garnering roughly USD 21.5 million in premiums during 2023. Despite the US market being a significant target for ManyPets, it confronted operational hiccups like high costs for customer acquisition and meagre retention rates. Moreover, in 2022, it had procured a licensed carrier from Munich Re for crafting its policies. However, it is now planning on selling the carrier, forming part of its exit plan.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> ManyPets' exit from the US market follows a similar pattern to its <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/18904"> withdrawal from Sweden in May 2023 </a> . In both cases, the company ensured a smooth transition for existing customers by partnering with local insurers Odie Pet Insurance in the US and Hedvig in Sweden to maintain coverage continuity.</p>

ManyPets exits US market; transitions customers to Odie

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 <p>Homeowners' insurance provider, Delos, has successfully raised USD 9 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by HSBC Asset Management and saw participation from other players including IA Capital Group, Blue Bear Capital, Generation Space, and several angel investors.</p>
 <p>With a plan to expand beyond California, Delos intends to utilize the funding for speedy expansion into other states while developing new products to offer affordable insurance coverage. </p>
 <p>The company presently holds USD 40 billion in total insurance value. It utilizes satellite imagery and AI technology to identify homes eligible for insurance in areas prone to wildfires. </p>
 
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Delos Insurance Solutions raises USD 9 million in Series A funding to expand coverage

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 <p>Root Insurance is collaborating with Arity, a telematics technology company, to broaden its data sources for its novel UBI model. Arity's Drivesight technology and 1-999 driving score will be integrated into Root's proprietary scoring system to provide instantaneous quotes for customers who already possess an Arity score. The objective of this collaboration is to augment Root's capability to offer personalised rates derived from past driving behaviour when offering insurance quotes.</p>
 <p>The newly developed model, Root UBI v5, will be applicable to new insurance policies from September 19, 2024 and policies up for renewal from November 6, 2024. Customers have the option to apply their existing Arity data, undertake a traditional test drive, or completely bypass the test drive when procuring coverage.</p>
 
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Root partners with Arity to enhance usage-based insurance model

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 <p>On-demand vehicle insurance platform, INSHUR, raised USD 19 million in a funding round. The round was led by Viola Growth and included participation from MS&amp;AD Ventures and existing investors. This increase brings INSHUR's total funding to USD 78.5 million.</p>
 <p>This funding will be used to expand operations on a global scale, especially in the United States. Additionally, it will establish and nurture relationships with key platform partners and help grow the company's team.</p>
 <p>In 2023, INSHUR saw nearly a 4x growth rate. In the month of April, it extended its services all over the US. This followed its acquisition of American Business Insurance Services (ABI). The company has also enhanced its offerings for drivers and platform partners worldwide through partnerships with on-demand platforms including Uber and Amazon Flex.</p>
 
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All Updates

Surround Insurance raises USD 2.5 million in seed funding

Voom Insurance names Thomas Coyne as head of insurance

Branch partners with Liberate Innovations for streamlined claim journeys

iCover launches life insurance marketplace iCover Direct

Honeycomb expands insurance operations to Washington and Maryland, covering USD 35 billion in assets

Blend partners with Covered Insurance to offer home insurance for mortgage customers

Apollo Insurance partners with Townline to provide digital tenant insurance solutions

ManyPets exits US market; transitions customers to Odie

Delos Insurance Solutions raises USD 9 million in Series A funding to expand coverage

Root partners with Arity to enhance usage-based insurance model

INSHUR raises USD 19 million in funding to strengthen market position

InsurTech: Personal Lines

Surround Insurance raises USD 2.5 million in seed funding

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