Israeli-Founded Insurance Tech Companies Star In Forbes’ Top 50 FinTech Firms

Three Israeli-founded insurance tech companies were listed as part of Forbes’ top 50 most innovative companies in the financial industry published last week.

The list looks at US companies “making it easier, faster and cheaper to use financial services” and includes “startups with good ideas, no matter how small,” according to the publication. Forbes said this year’s list, its fifth annual round-up, had 19 newcomers and 13 companies worth more than $2 billion.

The three Israeli-founded companies are:

• Hippo Insurance, the Palo Alto-based company that allows homeowners to receive accurate insurance quotes built on public data sets from municipal building records, satellite imagery, and smart home devices. Hippo was founded in 2015 by Israeli entrepreneurs
  Assaf Wand, the company’s current CEO, and Eyal Navon. The company acquired Sheltr, a US-based home maintenance platform, last year. Hippo is valued at over $1 billion (one of 30 unicorn companies founded by Israelis)
• Next Insurance, also Palo Alto-based, provides digital, small business insurance coverage across the US. It offers general liability, professional liability, commercial auto and workers’ compensation coverage with instant, 24/7, online access. Next Insurance was founded in 2016 by Alon Huri, Guy Goldstein, and Nissim Tapiro and is valued at over $1 billion today.
• Lemonade, the New York-based insurance provider founded in 2015 by Shai Wininger, also a co-founder of Fiverr, and Daniel Schreiber. Lemonade uses behavioral economics, artificial intelligence and chatbots to deliver renters and homeowners insurance policies, and handle claims quickly for users in nearly two dozen states across the US. It offers renters insurance starting at $5 per month, and homeowners insurance starting at $25 per month. The company announced earlier this month that it would begin offering pet insurance (for cats and dogs) in the next few months pending regulatory approval. Lemonade is reportedly valued at over $2 billion.

Israeli-founded digital payments company Payoneer, founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal, also featured in Forbes list. Payoneer enables businesses to send and receive cross-border payments electronically and its clients include Google, Airbnb, and Amazon. The company has offices in Israel, India, Japan, the UK, and the Philippines, and is headquartered in New York City.