SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vouch Insurance, the platform offering seamless business insurance for startups, today announced a $45 million Series B investment round led by Y Combinator Continuity. Vouch also announced its launch in California, bringing digitally-delivered insurance coverage to the world’s largest technology and startup market. With the new investment, Vouch has raised $70 million in financing to date from Ribbit Capital, SVB Financial Group, Y Combinator, Index Ventures, and 500 Startups.
From launch to funding, startup founders will face myriad challenges and pain points as they scale their ventures. Planning for early risk is critical to future success, especially in an age when technology companies are held to increasingly higher standards. Through its proprietary insurance policies, built for the way startups today operate, Vouch gives world-changing companies the freedom to innovate and scale, while still mitigating the risks and challenges that come with any company’s growth. As one of the most successful and well-known startup incubators in the world, Y Combinator works directly with founders — which is why Continuity, the incubator’s venture fund, is leading this Series B round as a strategic partner for Vouch.
"Y Combinator and Vouch share a common goal – giving founders the support they need to build successful, innovative companies,” said Anu Hariharan, Partner at Y Combinator Continuity. “Vouch is built specifically for startups, so founders have the peace of mind that their business is covered. This platform is fundamental to the startup community, as it enables founders to focus on growing their companies — which is why we were bullish on leading the Series B."
After launching in Utah and Illinois in September 2019, Vouch rapidly scaled to six additional markets and plans to offer coverage nationwide by the end of 2020. Less than eight weeks after launching in Utah, Vouch crossed 5% market share, with an overall Net Promoter Score of 80. After gathering learnings from its early customer base, the company is launching in California to double down on its purpose of giving world-changing companies the freedom to innovate — and the support they need to minimize risk. California represents 50 percent of the business insurance market and is the center of the fast-growth technology and start-up industry, which spends $44 billion per year on commercial insurance. Vouch’s offering in this market is critical, as it helps safeguard startups from the early missteps that can impact the growth of many companies. This launch is just one of many in the pipeline, as the company plans to provide coverage to startups nationwide by the end of 2020.
“Vouch helps founders manage the risks associated with starting up a new company, so they can focus on creating and growing businesses that change the world. We believe that’s a purpose worth pursuing,” said Sam Hodges, CEO and co-founder of Vouch and former co-founder of Funding Circle U.S., the peer-to-peer lending marketplace that went public in 2018. “As an entrepreneur, I've spent most of my career building companies at the intersection of technology and financial services. I know first-hand that along the journey of building and growing a business, teams will face numerous high-stakes challenges. Vouch is here to support entrepreneurs and mitigate those challenges from the beginning, leaving more room for growth.”
As the only insurance platform built exclusively for start-ups, Vouch designs policies specifically for the needs of the industry — helping companies get not only a quote but full coverage in a matter of minutes. Vouch’s platform provides comprehensive coverage ranging from Business Property and General Liability and Employment Practice Liability to Cyber Coverage, and has optimized the insurance process for the speed, sophistication, and customization that the startup landscape requires to scale and grow. All Vouch coverages are accessed from a single application that takes less than 10 minutes to complete, coverage starts as soon as the next day, and everything from onboarding to claims is available in one place.
Vouch’s proprietary policies are backed by Munich Re, one of the largest A-rated reinsurers in the world — and Vouch is also a preferred insurance provider for Silicon Valley Bank's client base, which includes approximately 50 percent of venture-backed technology and life science startups in the country.
About Vouch
Vouch is a new kind of insurance platform for startups, offering fully-digital, tailored coverage that takes minutes to activate. Vouch works directly with its clients to insure, manage, and avoid risks, rather than brokering their insurance out to legacy carriers, so founders can focus on building their business. Vouch was founded by Sam Hodges and Travis Hedge, who experienced firsthand the value of insurance coverage tailored to a startup’s needs. Vouch is backed by Y Combinator, Ribbit Capital, and Index Ventures, and is backed and trusted by Silicon Valley Bank to serve its client base. Vouch has offices in San Francisco and Chicago. Learn more at vouch.us or on Twitter @vouch_group.
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