MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hippo, the California-based insurtech company that is transforming home insurance, today announced a $70 million round of growth funding co-led by Felicis Ventures, a venture firm investing in the iconic companies of today and tomorrow, and Lennar Corporation, the nation’s leading homebuilder. All major existing investors also participated in the round of funding. Hippo will utilize the funding to accelerate growth while continuing to deliver a modernized home insurance product that includes world-class customer experience on a national scale.
Hippo launched in 2017, providing insurance policies with more comprehensive coverage for today’s homeowners while cutting premium costs up to 25 percent. Since January 2018, the company grew its policy sales by 30 percent month over month and launched into 11 new states covering more than $25 billion in total property value. All Hippo insurance policies are backed by world-leading reinsurers.
"Hippo has set the bar for the future of insurance with its fully automated, proprietary policy management and proactive underwriting,” said Victoria Treyger, Managing Director at Felicis Ventures and member of the Hippo Board of Directors. “The company leverages thousands of data points to underwrite customers in minutes and proactively monitors and alerts homeowners when key repairs or weather protection is needed to safeguard their most important asset. Insurance is in the early stages of undergoing the dramatic transformation of customer experience and improved risk management enabled by access to real time data. We see Hippo’s current growth rate and powerful automated policy management system as the foundation to driving this transformation.”
Insurtech is anticipated to grow from 4 percent of the current insurance market to more than 10 percent by 2023, according to a recent Jupiter report, totaling more than $400 billion in premiums. Today, Hippo is accessible to more than 50 percent of the U.S. homeowner population, and that number is anticipated to grow to more than 60 percent by the end of 2018.
“Hippo has clearly captured the direct to consumer home insurance market with their efficient product, modern coverage and customer friendly approach,” said Eric Feder, Senior Lennar Executive. “This investment marks the beginning of our relationship with Hippo and reflects our enthusiasm for exploring opportunities to streamline and improve the insurance process for our home buyers.” Feder will join the Hippo Board of Directors.
Fifth Wall, a follow-on investor in the round, facilitated and structured the partnership between Hippo and Lennar (a Strategic Limited Partner in Fifth Wall) after co-leading the Series B. Through Fifth Wall, Hippo is able to quickly test and gauge validation from established builders, developers and companies that are transforming our physical world at the intersection of real estate and technology. With this new influx of funding, Hippo will focus on dramatically improving one of the most critical parts of the homebuying process, buying the right home insurance, while creating a better customer experience and offering smarter coverage.
“Homebuying is the engine of the American economy, but the process for acquiring homeowners insurance - a requirement for most homeowners - has been predominantly analog, arduous and inefficient,” said Brendan Wallace, co-founder and managing partner at Fifth Wall. “This game-changing partnership is a great example of how a real estate incumbent like Lennar can influence innovation cycles in the market - by integrating with a best-in-class startup to move the industry forward.”
Hippo delivered over 800 product updates in 2018 alone, or roughly two per day, and doubled its online conversion rate during the same time period, primarily aimed at solving the underinsurance problem more than half of the US homeowner population faces today.
“Our heavy focus on customer experience for every client, from first time homeowners to home insurance experts, has been one of the keys to our success,” said Assaf Wand, Hippo co-founder and CEO. “From a client’s first interaction with us, to our regular coverage tracking, we always keep their needs in mind. We’re eager to expand our footprint, launch new products and bring our incredible customer service to clients nationwide.”
Hippo’s series C investment brings the company’s total funding raised to $109 million. The investor base includes many leading angels and funds:
- Abstract Ventures, Aquiline Technology Growth, Comcast Ventures, Fifth Wall, GGV Capital, Horizons Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, Pipeline Ventures, RPM Ventures and Zeev Ventures
About Hippo
Hippo is on a mission to transform home insurance for the modern household. Among its many innovations, Hippo allows homeowners to get a quote and purchase home insurance online in 60 seconds or less, save up to 25 percent compared with traditional insurers, and obtain smarter coverage for modern households. This includes protection for possessions like appliances, consumer electronics and home offices. Founded in 2015 by Assaf Wand and Eyal Navon, Hippo made its debut in the insurance marketplace in April 2017, and has raised $109 million to reinvent home insurance through its initial funding rounds. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Advisors Amir Raz and Ben Pask from GKH law firm served as legal counsel to Hippo during funding rounds. For more information, visit http://www.myhippo.com.
Additional Resources:
- Read UNCOVERED, the Hippo blog: https://myhippo.com/blog/
- Follow Hippo on Twitter: @hippo_insurance
- Connect with Hippo on Facebook: @myhippo.insurance
About Felicis Ventures
Founded in 2006, Felicis Ventures is a boutique venture capital firm that has backed 21 companies valued at $1B or more. Felicis invests in iconic companies reinventing core markets (Canva, Flexport), as well as those creating frontier technologies (Cruise, Ginkgo Bioworks). More than 70 Felicis portfolio companies have been acquired or gone public, including Adyen (IPO), Fitbit (IPO), Shopify (IPO), Pluralsight (IPO), Guardant Health (IPO), and Ring (acquired by Amazon). To learn more, please visit www.felicis.com.
About Lennar Corporation
Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation’s leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar’s Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title insurance and closing services for both buyers of Lennar’s homes and others. Lennar’s Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. For more information about Lennar, please visit www.lennar.com.
