Israeli-Founded Insurance Tech Startup Hippo Raises $100M

Israeli-founded insurance tech startup Hippo announced on Wednesday that it raised $100 million in a Series D funding round led by Bond Capital, a fund that has also invested in major companies such as Airbnb, Houzz, Waze, Slack, and Uber.

Participants in the round include Comcast Ventures, Horizons Ventures, and Zeev Ventures, among others.

Hippo allows homeowners to receive an accurate insurance quote, built on public data sets from municipal building records to satellite imagery of physical property characteristics and purchase home insurance online in a minute or less. It also allows customers to save up to 25 percent on premiums, and obtain smarter coverage for household goods like appliances and consumer electronics.

Founded in January 2015, Hippo is led by Israeli-born CEO Assaf Wand, and CTO Eyal Navon. It made its debut in the insurance marketplace in April 2017 and has raised over $200 million to date.

In a press statement, the Palo Alto-based company said that the latest financing will be used to fuel Hippo’s expansion to more than 80 percent of the US homeowner population by the end of the year, deepen its direct-to-consumer product portfolio, and grow Hippo’s distribution network of industry partners. 

In addition to insurance, Hippo also provides complimentary smart home devices to clients to protect homeowners against water leaks, fire damage and break-ins. The company has also built partnerships with homebuilders such as Lennar (an investor in Hippo), lenders like Better.com, and homeowner insurers like First American Property & Casualty Insurance to build homes outfitted with sensors and other devices that help reduce maintenance costs, saving clients money.

“We launched Hippo to transform the outdated and often frustrating relationship people have with their home insurance provider into one that’s approachable, modern, and always adding value,” said Wand, co-founder and CEO of Hippo, in the statement. “Not only are more than 60 percent of US homeowners underinsured but traditional insurance only interacts with you when you file a claim. We’re providing more comprehensive policies and helping customers prevent claims from ever happening through protective services, programs and alerts that safeguard their homes, a family’s largest personal asset.”

“Hippo has emerged as one of the highest growth companies we’ve seen among its insurance peers and more broadly in FinTech,” said Noah Knauf, general partner at Bond. “The Hippo team is world-class and we’re excited to partner with them as they build the next generation insurance company.”

As part of the investment, Knauf will join Hippo’s board of directors.