Insurtech startups have been growing rapidly this year as consumers continue to seek out new ways to acquire quotes and policies remotely. Insurtech unicorn Hippo Insurance is no exception to the trend.
Hippo is the latest insurtech platform to announce a new raise, and it is a substantial one. The company announced Tuesday that it received $350 million in a capital investment by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings. The firm previously worked with Hippo when it participated in a $150 million Series E funding back in July.
Hippo has now raised a total of $709 million to date, the company was last valued at $1.5 billion.
The investment will be used to support Hippo’s product roll-out in additional states. The company aims to reach 95 percent of U.S. households by the end of next year. Hippo’s home insurance policies are currently available in 32 states across the country.
The company will also look to expand the size of its team. In July, the company told Built In that it plans to hire 100 new employees at its offices by the end of next year, when the company expects to go public.
Hippo will grow its presence in Austin as it continues to scale. The company is now hiring for multiple roles in sales, operations, data and analytics.
“Austin really fit Hippo’s mentality of a modern tech center,” Rick McCathron, the company’s chief insurance officer at Hippo, told Built In earlier this year. “It has a strong insurance presence and is located in the Central time zone, which allows us to better serve our customers throughout the country. What Hippo is trying to do is modern, and Austin is a modern place.”
The home insurance company was founded in 2015 and began selling policies in 2017. Hippo’s policies aren’t just limited to home coverage though, policies also exist for possessions like appliances and electronics.
Hippo’s platform enables customers to purchase insurance in five minutes or less by using data acquired from public records, satellite images, thermal readings and more, according to the company.
Hippo and Mitsui Sumitomo said they plan to sign a reinsurance treaty in which the Japanese company will take on a portion of Hippo’s insurance risk.
“We value the innovation that Hippo brought to the home insurance space through its advanced classification of risk,” Shinichiro Funabiki, director and vice president executive officer at Mitsui Sumitomo, said in a statement. “We look forward to learning from one another through our strategic partnership.”
Hippo’s other investors include Comcast Ventures, Dragoneer and BOND.
