Berlin-based wefox, an insurtech startup that functions with brokers, insurance agencies, and individuals via a digital platform, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $400M (approximately €398.79M) in a Series D equity and debt round of funding.
The company has now increased its valuation from $3B to $4.5B (approximately €4.48B) in 12 months.
The investment was led by Mubadala Investment Company with participation from EDBI, Eurazeo, LGT, Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures, and Target Global.
Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures and Growth at Mubadala, says, “Unlike most direct-to-consumer insurtechs, wefox acts as an ecosystem enabler – empowering the various distribution channels instead of competing with them. This model has allowed wefox to scale quickly and sustainably, providing brokers and customers alike a platform that seamlessly digitises the insurance market.”
Capital utilisation and growth
wefox says it will use the proceeds for product development and expand across Europe, and thereafter, Asia and the US.
CEO and founder of wefox, Julian Teicke, says, “This new valuation of $4.5B is a clear validation of our business model, which focuses on indirect distribution via agents rather than direct. This makes our business one of the most credible insurtechs in the market right now. We continue doubling our revenues with last year reaching $320M. Within the first four months of this year, wefox generated more than $200M in revenues, which keeps us on track to achieve our revenue target of $600M by the end of 2022.”
With more than two million customers, wefox aims to reach three million customers by the end of this year.
Teicke adds, “Our business has grown significantly over the past six years, and since the beginning we have consistently delivered strong year-on-year growth. This year we took several important steps, including unifying the business under one brand, expanding into Poland, and setting up a deep tech team in Paris. Within the next few years, we plan to expand our global footprint by increasing our presence in Europe and moving into both the US and Asian markets.”
Making insurance simple through technology
Founded in 2015 by Julian Teicke, Fabian Wesemann, and Dario Fazlic, wefox claims to be driven by a single purpose: to make people safe and prevent risk by reinventing insurance at scale through technology. A fully licensed digital insurance company, it sells insurance through intermediaries and not directly to customers. wefox is the parent company of wefox Insurance – an in-house regulated insurance carrier.
Its platform connects insurance companies, distributors, and customers to give simple access to digital insurance solutions. The goal is to keep people safe by making insurance 10 times better through technology.
Despite the current economic climate, the Berlin-based startup claims to be one of the very few tech companies still recruiting, with more than 1300 employees in the company today, up from 550 employees in 2021. It expects to reach 2000 employees by the end of 2022.
Earlier this year, the company appointed Prince Max von zu Liechtenstein to the board alongside former Klarna executive, Hanna Jacobsson. In December last year, wefox appointed former president of Samsung Electronics, Young Sohn, as chairman of the board.
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