Legacy industries like insurance can seem complicated and impenetrable. This is no longer the case. More insurance start-ups than ever are popping up – and finding both funds and users – within the space to give consumers more options than ever for every type of insurance experience or need one might have. Here are six of our favorites that are not afraid to shake things up.
Company: FitSense
Year Founded: 2015
Amount of Funding Raised So Far: $15k
Top Investors: StartupBootcamp InsurTech London
About FitSense: Fitsense is a data analytics platform working with insurance companies to personalize life and health insurance for anyone with a smartphone or wearable device.
Why FitSense Made Our List: Fitsense was created to help lower insurance costs and improve risk ratings. By taking the data from a user’s wearable (like Fitbit or Jawbone), insurance providers can make more accurate risk preditions based on actual data which will reward users who live healthier lifestyles with lower insurances costs and premiums.
Company: Lemonade
Year Founded: 2015
Amount of Funding Raised So Far: $13 million
Top Investors: Aleph, Sequoia Capital
About Lemonade: Lemonade is set to become the world’s major peer-to-peer P&C insurance provider.
Why Lemonade Made Our List: Lemonade is built on the idea that today’s insurance industry is “antagonistic” and “annoying” and the company aims to fix that. Lemonade is also stacking their team with more than just insurance industry pros: they hired renowned behavioral scientist Dan Ariely to help finesse their customer-focused, back-to-the-basics model.
Company: Melody Health Insurance (dba Canopy Health Insurance)
Year Founded: 2015
Amount of Funding Raised So Far: $3.8 million
Top Investors: Eduardo Cruz, CEO of ARS Humano
About Melody: Melody Health Insurance, the startup health insurer that will provide value-priced health insurance to individual consumers throughout the U.S.
Why Melody Made Our List: Melody seeks to give consumers more power in purchasing their own plans at budget-friendly prices. They aim to be able to give bigger discounts on procedures by having a smaller group of core providers that are close to where their customers live and work.
Company: Oscar
Year Founded: 2013
Amount of Funding Raised So Far: $727.5 million
Top Investors: Fidelity Investments, Google Captial
About Oscar: Oscar is a health insurance company that employs technology, design, and data to humanize health care.
Why Oscar Made Our List: Oscar isn’t the newest player in the book but they are one that has raised significant funding and has found successful growth. They aim to bring affordable premiums to their customers while also providing a pleasant user experience. They have an app that enables users to correspond directly with their doctors and customer services reps are always available. While their business model may not be significantly different, that focus on user experience in an industry that has a reputation for being challenging makes them notable. Oscar also offers its customers incentives like cash for flu shots and money back for meeting goals specific to its partner wearable (the Misfit) that encourage users to live healthier lifestyles.
Company: Sure.
Company: Sure.
Year Founded: 2014
Amount of Funding Raised So Far: $2.6 million
Top Investors: ff Venture Capital, Fosun Kinzon Capital, Montage Ventures
About Sure.: Sure is an innovative app within personal insurance that enables travelers to purchase on demand policies up to the time of their flight takeoff.
Why Sure. Made Our List: Sure. gives air travellers peace of mind by providing life insurance for specific durations (the length of a flight). This focus on microduration is different than a general life insurance policy since it is only enacted during air travel. The app provides it’s users with policy cost in real time.
Company: Trov
Year Founded: 2012
Amount of Funding Raised So Far: $46.27 million
Top Investors: Oak HC/FT
About Trov: Trov is an on-demand insurance platform that lets users buy insurance for specific products, for a specific amount of time.
Why Trov Made Our List: Trov is a service unlike any other. It enables its users to choose which of their belongings to cover and for how long. It also allows users to file their claims through the app. Furthermore, the coverage granted and cost are extremely transparent and upfront.
