Technology

Posted on June 18, 2019 by staff

InsurTech disrupter raises $42 million

Technology

InsurTech disrupter Zego has raised $42 million to fund its expansion.

The London start-up provides insurance to gig economy workers such as Deliveroo riders and Uber drivers in the UK, Ireland and Spain. It currently insures a third of the UK’s food delivery market and has partnerships with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.

It plans to double its workforce from 75 to 150 to take advantage of growing gig economy market. It will also look to expand across Europe.

The Series B round includes FinTech giant Transferwise, German food delivery platform Delivery Hero and Target Global.

“When we built Zego from scratch three years ago, our mission was to transform the insurance sector by creating products which truly reflected the rapidly changing world of transport,” said co-founder and CEO Sten Saar, a former Deliveroo employee.

“The world is becoming more urbanised and, because of this, we are moving from traditional ownership of vehicles to shared usership.

“This means that the rigid model of insurance that has existed for hundreds of years is no longer fit for purpose. We are extremely proud to be at the forefront of change.”

Ben Kaminski, partner of lead investor Target Global, said: “Zego identified a major gap in the insurance market and created a unique business model to fill it, which the incumbents will find very difficult to replicate.”

TransferWise founder Taavet Hinrikus said: “I’ve been following Zego for some time and have been hugely impressed by the team and their ability to rapidly roll out innovative new insurance products and quickly gain market share.

“This investment will be a springboard for further growth that will see them continue to shake up the insurance sector.”