Wefox CEO Julian Teicke.
Wefox
Wefox, the $4.5 billion German insurance coverage know-how group, has raised $55 million of contemporary funding from Deutsche Financial institution and UniCredit, two nameless sources accustomed to the deal advised CNBC.
The corporate, which sells insurance coverage by way of a web-based platform, raised the contemporary money in a debt financing deal from the 2 European lenders, in line with the sources, who weren’t approved to reveal the data publicly.
The deal was structured as a convertible debt settlement, which means that the debt shall be transformed into fairness when Wefox subsequent raises money, the sources advised CNBC.
The contemporary funding follows on from a $55 million debt spherical Wefox raised from JPMorgan and Barclays and a $55 million inner fundraise earlier this yr.
As Wefox did not elevate fairness, its valuation stays unchanged at $4.5 billion.
It brings the entire quantity of funding Wefox has raised thus far this yr to $160 million and marks a vote of confidence at a time when the insurtech business faces a grim macroeconomic setting.
The funds shall be used to assist eight-year-old Wefox speed up its world enlargement plans and double down on mergers and acquisitions, in line with the sources.
In contrast to different insurtech platforms like Lemonade within the U.S. or Getsafe in Germany, which supply insurance coverage on to customers with out involving brokers, Wefox works with a community of brokers, each in-house and externally, who distribute its insurance coverage merchandise.
Wefox can be pushing into a brand new mannequin of promoting insurance coverage known as “affinity” distribution. That is the place the corporate sells its insurance coverage software program to different companies for a subscription payment — for instance, a web-based automotive seller including automotive insurance coverage on the level of sale.
Wefox is backed by among the best-known names in enterprise capital, in addition to massive institutional names within the conventional monetary world.
Its VC backers embrace Salesforce Ventures, Goal International, Seedcamp, Speedinvest, and Horizon Ventures, whereas UBS, Goldman Sachs, Mubadala Capital Ventures, Jupiter Asset Administration are additionally current traders.
Wefox can be investing closely in synthetic intelligence, which has grow to be a sizzling space of tech just lately following the rise of viral AI chatbot ChatGPT.
Wefox primarily makes use of AI to automate coverage functions and customer support. The corporate has three tech hubs in Paris, Barcelona, and Milan devoted to AI.
