Wefox CEO Julian Teicke.
Wefox
Wefox, the $4.5 billion German insurance know-how group, has raised $55 million of fresh funding from Deutsche Bank and UniCredit, two nameless sources acquainted with the deal advised CNBC.
The firm, which sells insurance plans through a web based platform, raised the fresh money in a debt financing deal from the 2 European lenders, in accordance 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 will probably be transformed into fairness when Wefox subsequent raises money, the sources advised CNBC.
The fresh funding follows on from a $55 million debt spherical Wefox raised from JPMorgan and Barclays and a $55 million inside fundraise earlier this yr.
As Wefox did not elevate fairness, its valuation stays unchanged at $4.5 billion.
It brings the overall quantity of funding Wefox has raised to this point this yr to $160 million and marks a vote of confidence at a time when the insurtech trade faces a grim macroeconomic setting.
The funds will probably be used to assist eight-year-old Wefox speed up its international growth plans and double down on mergers and acquisitions, in accordance with the sources.
Unlike different insurtech platforms like Lemonade in the U.S. or Getsafe in Germany, which supply insurance on to customers with out involving brokers, Wefox works with a community of brokers, each in-house and externally, who distribute its insurance merchandise.
Wefox can be pushing into a brand new mannequin of promoting insurance known as “affinity” distribution. This is the place the corporate sells its insurance software program to different companies for a subscription payment — for instance, a web based automobile supplier including automobile insurance on the level of sale.
Wefox is backed by a number of the best-known names in enterprise capital, in addition to giant institutional names in the normal monetary world.
Its VC backers embody Salesforce Ventures, Target Global, Seedcamp, Speedinvest, and Horizon Ventures, whereas UBS, Goldman Sachs, Mubadala Capital Ventures, Jupiter Asset Management are additionally present traders.
Wefox can be investing closely in synthetic intelligence, which has change into 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 firm has three tech hubs in Paris, Barcelona, and Milan devoted to AI.