UK insurtech honcho raises additional £1.2 million

Taking its total raised since 2018 to £3 million, honcho plans to continue a growth spurt that has already seen the insurtech startup launch its car insurance marketplace

UK-based insurtech startup honcho, the provider of the jurisdiction’s first reverse auction marketplace for financial services, has raised £1.2 million (USD 1.5 million) in investment.

Taking its total raised since 2018 to £3 million (USD 3.7 million), honcho plans to continue a growth spurt that has already seen the insurtech startup launch its car insurance marketplace, sign up thousands of consumers and attract 12 insurance providers, including Axa, Aviva, Ageas and Zurich.

Crowd investors, Insurtech Gateway and existing investor Finance Durham participated in the latest funding round, joining Maven Capital Partners and others in investing in the business.

The latest round saw further investment from Maven’s managed funds alongside another successful crowd raise on Crowdcube, where more than 600 private investors took the opportunity to buy shares in honcho.

As part of this raise, honcho also welcomed investment from Insurtech Gateway, the London-based incubator and fund with an exclusive focus on the insurtech sector.

Insurtech Gateway was formed in 2017 and has incubated some of the insurance sector’s most exciting new tech businesses, including By Miles, FloodFlash and Collective Benefits.

Commenting on the investment, honcho chief executive officer Gavin Sewell said: “Raising investment is one of the most challenging aspects of running a startup, and we’re delighted to have achieved this £1.2 million raise with the continued support of Maven and with further investment from the crowd.”

“We’re also thrilled to welcome Insurtech Gateway to the honcho family. As specialists in our sector they will bring an immense amount of support to honcho as we enter our next phase of growth. Insurtech Gateway’s expertise across the sector extends from technological capabilities to expertise on products and consumer acquisition, and we’re looking forward to working with them.

Insurtech Gateway chief executive officer Richard Chattock said: “Today’s consumers rightly demand fairer, more transparent insurance. honcho’s new model delivers this. It reduces commissions, eliminates bias and allows consumers to make purchasing decisions on product as well as price. We’re delighted to be joining honcho’s journey to revolutionising personal lines insurance distribution.”

Talking about honcho’s 2020 growth plans, chief product officer Tom Spence said: “There are over 4 million vans on the UK’s roads and the nation’s van drivers have been at the mercy of price comparison websites for their insurance for far too long. honcho’s van insurance marketplace will launch this spring and we’ll be bringing long-overdue transparency and fairness from some of the UK’s leading van insurance providers.”

“Following van insurance, we’ll be extending honcho to learner drivers. When you’re learning to drive the last thing you need is to navigate the mysterious maze of learner insurance to then get lumbered with something that isn’t right for you. honcho is going to change all of this with our special learner zone in the spring, bringing our unique reverse auction marketplace to both temporary and annual learner driver insurance.”

Image: honcho

Mark Dugdale