INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
With roughly one million customers across Brazil and a new round of financing, the mobile phone insurance provider Pitzi now finds itself
with a $100 million valuation.The size of its latest round, which was led by QED Investors and included commitments from existing investors
like Thrive Capital and Valiant Partners, was undisclosed.PItzi acts as a reseller for insurance companies to offer products around mobile
phone insurance across Brazil
Founded in 2012, the company’s mobile handset insurance offerings were a service that was in the right place at the right time, as
low-cost handsets caused the market in Latin America’s most populous country to explode.Pitzi previously raised $20 million from
investors, including Thrive, Kaszek Ventures, Flybridge and DCM
Even with the company’s success, cell phone insurance in Brazil stands at 4%, compared with global standards of more than 40%
This despite the fact that there are more than 200 million phones in Brazil alone.“Today, only 4% of smartphones here are protected but
we’re driving that towards 90% in the coming years and using those phones to unlock even more transformation in the space,” said Daniel
Hatkoff, founder and CEO of Pitzi, in a statement.The investment by QED Investors puts Pitzi in some pretty good company when it comes to
Latin American financial technology startups
Other Latin American investments in the firm’s portfolio include the multibillion-dollar credit card startup, Nubank; the personal
finance lender, Creditas; the business lender, Konfio; and the rental financing company Quinto Andar.As a result of the investment, Bill
Cilluffo, a former president of Capital One International and a general partner with QED, will take a seat on the company’s board of
directors, according to a statement.For Hatkoff, the cell phone is a window into other products and services in the insurance industry
thanks to the ways the device has transformed so many experiences for the emerging Brazilian middle class.“The smartphone will be
profoundly transformational in Brazil, allowing the emerging middle class to finally emerge and do things it never imagined possible,”
“As market leaders, we at Pitzi are obsessed with unlocking the Brazilian consumer’s ability to use their phones in ever more powerful
Cell phone protection is just the beginning.”
