By Miles, an on-demand car insurance startup, has raised £5m in its Series A funding, which was led by Octopus Ventures.
Other commitments to the round came from Insurtech Gateway, InMotion Ventures and JamJar Investments.
Equity has been earmarked for development of its customer service team and in-app claims handling technology development. The InsurTech is also hoping to further the creation of new auto insurance products which will offer smarter and fairer pricing.
The InsurTech is aiming to help the 19 million UK drivers which travel less than 7,000 miles a year access better and more accurate insurance premiums, it claims.
A consumer pays an annual fixed cost which will cover the car while it is parked, but on top of this is a personalised per-mile-rate which will cover their driving. Miles travelled are measured via a Miles Tracker which is plugged into the car.
Policyholders are able to automatically see the cost of their journeys and access driving tools and reminders.
By Miles co-founder and CEO James Blackham said, “Those who don’t drive as much are being treated unfairly. They’re charged more to subsidise the insurance of higher mileage drivers. We’re using tech to stop people being overcharged for their car insurance. At the same time, we also want to change the way the industry interacts with its customers. It hasn’t got the best reputation!
Last year, the InsurTech pulled in £1m in a funding round, just weeks after it launched its services in the UK.
InsurTech Gateway head of deal flow Charlie Evans recently told FinTech Global that the InsurTech space is still a ‘minefield of challenges. One of the biggest issues is that getting InsurTechs to the point where they can test the product-market fit of their proposition is too prolonged and costly.
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