Rome, Italy-based Wallife, an insurtech company that protects individuals from new risks originating from the technological and scientific progress of genetics, biometrics and biohacking, announced on Wednesday that it has raised €12M in a Series A round of funding.
According to Crunchbase, Wallife now ranks seventh in Europe in the insurtech sector by the value of the Series A investment round.
Investors in this round
The investment was led by United Ventures, an Italian venture capital firm that specialises in digital technology investments. Since 2013, the firm has partnered with over 30 technology startups, supporting their growth and international expansion process.
The round also saw participation from a pool of selected Italian and international investors and business angels, including Aptafin.
Massimiliano Magrini, Managing Partner of United Ventures, says, “Scientific and technological progress introduces changes in our lives at an extremely fast pace. In this context, we were attracted by Wallife’s pioneering vision to build the world’s first company capable of providing answers on safety and protection from emerging and unknown risks.”
“This investment represents United Ventures’ entry into the insurtech sector, a highly innovative and fast-growing market. We believe that Fabio and Maria Enrica have the experience and ambition to scale the company internationally, investigating the new boundaries of risks originated by technological progress, linked to the very existence of the human being, biologically and digitally,” adds Magrini.
Providing answers about safety and protection from still unknown risks
Founded in 2020 by Fabio Sbianchi and Maria Enrica Angelone, Wallife focuses on protecting people from new and developing risks arising from technological innovation and scientific progress. Its aim is to create insurance products to cover risks that conventional insurance hasn’t been able to.
Areas of interest include genetic manipulation, for example, the preservation of biological material and genetic identity; biohacking, the use of technologies inside the human body, such as prostheses and implantable medical devices; and, the use of digital data, such as fingerprints and facial recognition.
Capital utilisation
Wallife says that it will use the proceeds to expand the company’s international growth, develop new insurance products, and strengthen its technological infrastructure. The company also plans to expand its team.
Founder Fabio Sbianchi says, “The newly secured funding will enable us to continue working on the activities that we started and will support the launch on the market of the insurance products we have been developing. Additionally, the funding obtained will be essential to continue the research activities of Wallife’s community of innovators and risk hunters and to invest in human capital, strengthening our team of professionals in Italy and abroad.”
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