Censio Announces Close of $10 Million Series A Financing From General Catalyst Partners, Bain Capital Ventures and Lakestar

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Oct 6, 2015) - Censio, a technology company that uses proprietary software and big data to make driving safer and more affordable, today announced it has closed on a $10 million Series A round of funding. The round, which was led by General Catalyst Partners and included funding from Bain Capital Ventures and Lakestar brings total equity capital raised to more than $13 million. The funding will enable Censio to continue developing its leading Usage Based Insurance (UBI) applications and services for the world's largest insurance carriers in the U.S. and in Europe.

"New cars are safer than they've ever been, but drivers face an increasing array of distractions behind the wheel. As a result, distracted driving is becoming a leading cause of car accidents," said Scott Griffith, former Chairman and CEO of Zipcar and a co-founder of Censio. "At Censio, we're using technology and big data to turn the mobile phone into a force for good by helping drivers see, understand and change risky driving behavior. At the same time, our insurance company partners are better enabled to offer new pricing and product alternatives based on actual driving behavior."

Driving accidents are a leading cause of death for people under the age of 34, with distracted driving accounting for 80 percent of all accidents. The prevalence of distracted driving is upending the traditional mechanisms insurance companies have used to measure risk. Censio was founded on the notion that technology can help people become better drivers and to help insurance companies understand and manage new risks that come with the increased use of technology while driving.

Censio offers a turnkey UBI platform for the insurance industry. Its solution includes a downloadable mobile app that captures and helps improve driver behavior; a big data platform that provides clean, comprehensive driving records, driver scores and analytics; and a management and analytics dashboard that allows an insurance company UBI team and customer service representatives to deploy, manage and track a UBI program.

"We've already built an incredible team with some of the most talented and driven data scientists, engineers and product developers. In the coming year, we expect to double in size as we scale both the company and platform to meet customer demand, and help insurers grow their business and realize the full potential of the Usage Based Insurance opportunity," said Kevin Farrell, Censio's President.

Censio offers its solution to insurance companies seeking to reduce costs, develop new insurance products and/or improve their risk assessment capabilities. By distinguishing between safe and risky drivers and rewarding safe drivers with discounts on their premiums, insurance companies reduce claims costs, attract new and retain existing customers. Because Censio's primary data source is a driver's phone and not hardware installed in the car, implementation and administration costs for the insurer are cut by more than 50 percent compared to hardware-based UBI solutions, further increasing the financial performance while improving the consumer attractiveness of the UBI program.

In September 2015, after an 18-month competition among 11 companies, Progressive Insurance announced it had selected Censio as the sole provider to power its mobile UBI program. Censio and Progressive are currently rolling out the technology to a select number of Progressive customers.

About Censio
Censio uses big data to make driving safer and more affordable. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., its technology platform enables insurance companies to distinguish between safe and risky drivers, reward safe drivers with discounts on their insurance, and revolutionize the industry by enabling pricing based on actual driving behavior. Censio delivers its Software as a Service (SaaS) solution through leading insurers, saving lives and making roads safer for millions of users around the world. The company's lead investor is General Catalyst Partners, where Censio co-founder Scott Griffith is an Executive in Residence. More information is available at www.cens.io.