INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Wefox Group, the Berlin-based insurtech startup behind the consumer-facing insurance app and carrier One and the insurance platform Wefox,
is disclosing $110 million in a second tranche of Series B funding
Sources tell TechCrunch that this gives the company a pre-money valuation of $1.65 billion
Wefox Group declined to comment on the financials.The Series B extension is led by OMERS Ventures, the venture capital arm of Canadian
Merian Chrysalis, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Mundi Ventures also participated, along with existing investors.It follows an earlier Series B
of $125 million in March, led by Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Ventures, with participation from Chinese investor CreditEase
Wefox’s other existing investors include Target Global, Salesforce Ventures, Seedcamp, Idinvest and Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher’s
investment vehicle, Sound Ventures.In a call, Wefox co-founder and CEO Julian Teicke told me the Wefox Group has grown revenues to over $100
million, and now services more than 500,000 customers, claiming that this makes it Europe’s “leading insurtech.”He also revealed that
the company has grown to 400 employees, which, he says means he can no longer remember every employee’s name
“That sucks,” he tells me, revealing that it was only this summer when the company was smaller that he won a company-wide bet for being
able to do just that.Breaking Wefox Group’s revenue down further, the company’s direct to consumer insurance brand, One Insurance, has
increased annual revenues by nearly tenfold this year, to $30 million
It also claims to be Germany’s fastest-growing provider for household and private liability insurance.Perhaps more significantly, Teicke
says One’s loss ratio (what percentage of premiums earned is subsequently paid out in claims) is below 40%, which is much better than the
He pinned that on Wefox’s use of data, which, he says, enables One to understand risk in a much more technology-driven and granular
way.Meanwhile, Teicke says the new funding will be used to continue ramping up international expansion in 2020
Wefox is active in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain, and I understand has quietly launched in Italy.Adds Henry Gladwyn, principal at
OMERS Ventures, in a statement: “We are thrilled to continue our support of Julian and the incredibly ambitious Wefox Group team as they
continue to disrupt and re-invent the insurance industry
We believe Wefox Group’s approach to revolutionizing insurance – empowering the consumer and prioritizing solutions for secured
data-driven experiences – will deliver significant value for the entire trade.”
