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New home and contents insurer Honey Insurance has bottled $15.5 million in a seed round backed by some of the biggest names in the Australian tech innovation space alongside institutional investing giants as it launches today.
Led by institutional investors RACQ, PEXA, Metricon, ABN Group, Mirvac, AGL, SFG, REI and Apex Capital, the seed funding will be used to launch the home and contents insurance company and scale the Honey team for research and development.
The raise also gained support from Zip Co (ASX: Z1P) founder and CEO Larry Diamond, Afterpay (ASX: APT) co-founder and CEO Anthony Eisen, ME Bank former CEO Jamie McPhee, Corelogic former CEO Graham Mirabito, and Airtasker co-founder and CEO Tim Fung.
Led by entrepreneur Richard Joffe, the co-founder and CEO of Park Assist and Stella.ai in the US, Honey Insurance gives customers smart home sensors and lowers premiums as a result.
"There are so many great things about living in Australia, but applying for home and contents insurance felt like travelling back in time thirty years," says Honey Insurance founder and CEO Joffe.
"The sign-up process was slow, unsophisticated and left me totally clueless as to whether I had the right level of protection or not. I knew there had to be a smarter way.
"We use smart data to simplify a process that's currently far too confusing than it needs to be, and to ensure our cover is fast and easy to buy, always fairly priced and it's simple to make a claim."
The founder says the company's policies are designed for modern living, taking into account those who now work from home, to coverage for friends and family who are staying over for a few days.
"At Honey Insurance we invest in our customers by giving them smart technology for the simple fact that 50 per cent of insurance claims are avoidable," says Joffe.
"We believe providing protection upfront is just as important as being there for them in the event of a claim.
"How many other insurance companies do you know that will literally pay out on day one?"
Honey Insurance is underwritten by industry giant RACQ.
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