Fintech

Q1 202404.03.2024

Insurtech

Picture of Éanna Kelly

Éanna Kelly

at Sifted

Insurance is often a grudge purchase — something we have to, rather than want to, buy. So any startup claiming they can make the experience less painful is worth hearing out. We’ve seen challengers emerge in recent years to chip away at older rivals, offering sprinkles of AI to sell personalised policies, user-friendly apps and websites to help customers navigate bewildering details around policies as well as claims processes.

They’ve had mixed success. It wasn’t so long ago that the sector was soaring as startups including Lemonade, Hippo and Root debuted on the stock market at valuations far above those of more established peers. Companies like Berlin’s wefox, which sells insurance to consumers through external brokers, and Paris-based Alan, which offers workplace health coverage, grew unicorn horns and became billion-dollar-plus companies.

But it’s been a chastening time for the industry, with startups globally struggling to attract capital as investors shy away from riskier bets. Entrepreneurs were pulled into this trillion-dollar sector believing it was ripe for a digital spruce-up. The revolution, however, isn’t happening everywhere. Motor and home insurance remains largely undisrupted in Europe — the same big insurers like AXA and Alliance dominate. There have been more successful forays into niches like pet insurance. ManyPets, for example, profited on the big surge in dog and cat ownership during the pandemic and won a sizeable chunk of the UK market with its glossy and easy-to-grasp offering (although the company has faced trickier times more recently).

To make a dent in the insurance industry, entrants need to go hard on expensive marketing — but with the bubbly times firmly in the rearview mirror, we’re seeing far more scrutiny on business models. Modernising this centuries-old industry suddenly seems as tricky as it ever did.

20 most promising early-stage startups

Sifted score
8.82
-
Stoik
Cyber risk insurance for businesses.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
- Year founded
  2021
- HQ
  Paris, France
- Latest round
  Early VC
  €10m / Sep 2023
- Total funding
  €24.8m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.88
-
Kota
Simplifying benefits management for companies.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2022
- HQ
  Dublin, Ireland
- Latest round
  Seed
  €5m / Oct 2023
- Total funding
  €7.6m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.82
-
Dimpl (Moment)
Invoice funding for improved cash flow
Strong investor(s)
- Year founded
  2018
- HQ
  Paris, France
- Latest round
  Seed
  €4.3m / Oct 2020
- Total funding
  €5.8m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.74
-
Eye Security
Secure and diverse food supply.
Strong investor(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2020
- HQ
  The Hague, Netherlands
- Latest round
  Early VC
  €17m / Nov 2022
- Total funding
  €21.5m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.61
-
Coverzen
Streamlined insurance operations for intermediaries
Serial founder(s)
- Year founded
  2021
- HQ
  Milan, Italy
- Latest round
  Seed
  €3.3m / Jul 2023
- Total funding
  €3.8m
View company profile

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