Israeli-Founded Insurance Tech Startup Hippo Raises $150M At $1.5B Valuation

Israeli-founded insurance tech startup Hippo raised $150 million in a Series E round, the company announced on Tuesday, at a valuation of $1.5 billion. Investors in the round included FinTLV Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Innovius Capital.

Hippo last raised $100 million in July 2019 with a Series D round led by Bond Capital, a fund that has also invested in major companies such as Airbnb, Houzz, Waze, Slack, and Uber.

The latest funding round brings its total capital raised to over $350 million.

Hippo was founded in January 2015 by Israeli-born CEO Assaf Wand, and CTO Eyal Navon, and is based in Palo Alto, California. It made its debut in the insurance marketplace in April 2017 and now offers homeowners’ insurance in 29 states.

The company’s policies are built on public data sets from municipal building records, and satellite imagery of physical property characteristics, promising clients a user experience that lasts just a few minutes. It also allows customers to save up to 25 percent on premiums, and obtain smarter coverage for household goods like appliances and consumer electronics. In addition to insurance, Hippo also provides complimentary smart home devices to clients to protect homeowners against water leaks, fire damage and break-ins.

Hippo said it will use the new funding for “expansion, hiring, investment into the company’s tech operations, and to help support its proposed acquisition of an insurance carrier, Crunchbase reported, citing a statement from the company.

Hippo announced last month that it has plans to acquire Spinnaker Insurance Company, a New Jersey-based insurance startup focused on underserved markets. In November 2019, Hippo acquired Sheltr, a US-based home maintenance platform that helps homeowners proactively care for their homes.

Wand said the company would now be preparing for an IPO by next year. “In 2021, we’ll be ready to go public,” he said, according to an Insurance Journal report.

The news comes on the heels of the successful IPO earlier this month of another Israeli-founded insurance tech company, Lemonade. The company, which offers renters’, homeowners’, and pet insurance policies, went public on July 2 and saw its stock surge, reaching a total market capitalization of $3.8 billion.