Insurtech Urban Jungle Raises US$23mn in Series A Round

Insurtech Urban Jungle has raised US$23mn in its Series A funding round which was led by Intact Ventures and Ingka Group

The London-based insurance technology start-up, Urban Jungle, has raised $23mn through its latest Series A funding drive in an event that was led by Intact Ventures, a US-based venture capital investor with a robust track record in Insurtech. Ingka Group, the world’s largest IKEA Franchise  also took part.

Urban Jungle was launched in 2016 by CEO Jimmy Williams and former Google developer Greg Smyth. It is now one of the UK’s top-rated insurance providers, reaching the recent milestone of helping over 100,000 customers while still scoring 4.8 out of five stars on Trustpilot with over 5,000 reviews.

The insurtech also uses the latest technologies to offer customers low-cost  insurance through its use of AI and Machine Learning to catch fraud.      

Urban Jungle growth strategy funded by investors

The latest funding drive brings the total amount raised by the business to $40mn.  

Speaking about the latest cash injection, Williams said the funds would be used to expand the company’s offerings and marketplaces. “This latest Series A funding round comes at an exciting time, we’re growing very quickly which has been attractive to both existing and new investors.”

He continued, ”We are building a modern insurance provider from scratch, leveraging the latest technology, and using that to create products with fair, transparent prices and easy to understand terms - all whilst making insurance simple, quick and affordable.”

Williams said the threats presented by cyber attacks and fraud in the insurance industry were growing, and that innovation would help fortify their services.

“Fraud is a big problem in our industry, and it drives up the cost for everyone else. The way we use technology gives us a critical edge by being able to screen out fraudsters, and help genuine customers get a much better deal, which is particularly important at the moment. It also helps us with our goal of financial inclusion - being able to tell fraudsters and genuine customers apart helps us have much higher eligibility than our peers.”

Scaling into new products and services is part of Urban Jungle’s plan, which will focus on the UK as well as additional marketplaces. “We’re thrilled to lead Urban Jungle’s Series A financing round and support the company’s mission to modernize the insurance buying journey for its customers,” said Justin Smith-Lorenzetti, Head of Investments at Intact Ventures.

Williams added: “We’re already one of the leading insurance brands for UK renters and homeowners, but our ambition is to become the number one insurance business in the UK and beyond. This funding is a big step towards that, and we’ll use it to rapidly grow our customer base and roll out our simple, fair insurance into other markets in the year to come. It will also allow us to create 100 new jobs in the UK, which is very exciting for us.”


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