INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
startup Marshmallow has blown up over the years by using innovations in data science to build car insurance policies for immigrants and
other consumers who have been overlooked or priced out of traditional insurance
Now, with a million drivers insured and a profitable annual revenue run rate of $500 million, Marshmallow has raised a fresh $90 million to
Oliver Kent-Braham said in an interview
He noted that in the U.K., there are more people coming out of the workforce than there are going in, with 1.2 million migrants recorded
integration comes with being able to drive your own insured vehicle and soon, the startup hopes, buying home insurance and taking out
everything financial and insurance that a new arrival to the U.K
might need to adjust to life.This round is roughly split 50-50 between equity and debt, according to Kent-Braham, and it is coming at a
valuation of just over $2 billion
In 2021, Marshmallow had insured just 100,000 people
Now, in cities like London, the one-million insured number is bolstered with a pink outdoor ad campaign that is hard to miss.Portage Capital
is leading the round, with participation from BlackRock and Columbia Lake Partners
Previous backers of the company have included Passion Capital, Investec, and Scor
Marshmallow has raised around $220 million to date.Notably, the new round has been in the works since at least January, and Kent-Braham
valuation rose to as much $4.5 billion by 2023
Just two years later, after years of losses and complications in its distributed/broker-based business model, WeFox has fallen on hard times
The company has been selling off parts of its business and picking up lifeline financing to stay afloat.Yet there are also some brighter
signs of insurtech startups building more sustainable businesses
Like Marshmallow, the startup started off with car insurance and is rethinking actuarial formulas and using AI to make new inroads into risk
prediction.Image Credits:MarshmallowWhile data science and AI are quickly becoming table stakes for insurance startups, there are other
The twins really do look a lot alike
from a Black founder, the other being WorldRemit
The statistics are not hugely encouraging outside the U.K
either; one 2024 study found that across the U.K
and the United States , only 3% of startups with valuations of over $1 billion have Black founders.At a time when diversity, equity, and
