KOBA Partners with Birchal for Second Funding Round
Pay as you drive car insurer KOBA has announced they are opening a crowdsource funding round in partnership with Birchal. This is a chance for investors (new and seasoned) to join KOBA’s cap table. The Expression of Interest (EOI) phase opens on July 26, 2022.“We’re thrilled to partner again with Birchal, Australia’s largest investor community. Crowdfunding is growing exponentially, and Birchal continues to lead the way ” says Andrew Wong, Founder of KOBA.“Our last raise was fully-subscribed in just 5 days, reaching our maximum of $1M on the Birchal platform. We were overwhelmed by the support and grateful to our 358 shareholders. So we’re excited to welcome everyone in again…our shareholders, customers, EOIs and early adopters… to the cap table.” says Mr Wong.With the funds raised so far, KOBA has launched their connected pay-per-KM car insurance product throughout Australia, and are growing their customer-base 70% month-on-month, with drivers paying from 3¢ per KM they drive.KOBA connects to your car’s onboard computer, linking the car’s driving data to a smartphone through wifi. In real-time, they measure the distance driven and charge drivers for what they use. Unlike one-off, annual traditional insurance premiums, drivers get the same type of comprehensive coverage but pay a few cents per km they drive. When the car is parked and not at risk of collision, a small monthly premium covers the car from fire, theft, hail and third-party damage. “With an increase in working from home, people are driving much less, while still paying higher premiums based on their usage pre-covid. And the rising cost of petrol, food and general cost of living means people are constantly looking for ways to save,” says Mr Wong.“KOBA provides a user-based alternative and is part of the new breed of insurance companies using data to build more customer-centric insurance solutions. If you drive less, you’ll pay less for car insurance,” he says.Now available on industry-leading comparison sites such as Compare the Market, as well as with distribution partners in major cities, KOBA has helped customers pay-per-KM for more than 35,000 trips to-date. Most recently they’ve partnered with Uber-acquired car-sharing platform, Car Next Door, to offer exclusive insurance for owners who car share.To date, KOBA has successfully raised $1.75M from Birchal, angel investors and insurance specific funds including Hunter Equity Group and Insurtech Gateway. This next round of funding will help scale awareness of the product amongst early adopters, build partnerships with car manufacturers to offer connected insurance, continue to evolve the app experience, and build new data-driven insurance products to open doors to new markets.KOBA recently won the 2022 Finnies Awards for “Excellence in Insurtech”.To learn more about KOBA and join the cap table, visit the Birchal site, or pre-register at www.kobaInsurance.com.auCSF Warning: Always consider the general CSF risk warning and offer document before investing
About KOBAAussie insurtech KOBA launched in November 2021 offering a very different approach to car insurance. Users pay a fixed amount to have their car insured while it’s parked and then they pay only for the distance they drive. Their usage is measured through a small matchbox-sized device called a KOBA Rider that attaches to a car’s OBD port. This communicates with the KOBA smartphone app to automatically calculate driving distances and charges a per-kilometre rate for each trip.
About Andrew Wong (Founder)Andrew Wong has been on the forefront of digital media and marketing for most of his career, always on the edge of change. Holding a Masters in Business Entrepreneurship, Andrew has launched 3 small businesses and successfully raised money twice for start-ups. After 12 years in Sydney and London, Andrew moved his family to San Francisco to be in the heart of high-growth tech start-ups. In 2 years, he raised Seed funds for a food logistics start-up and carbon-neutral beef product. Concurrently, Andrew worked for AAA (American Automobile Association) driving their digital IT, media and digital acquisition programs. It was here that he found the solution and inspiration for KOBA Insurance. In March 2020, with many families looking for new ways to save money due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Andrew became acutely aware that their car insurance bill remained the same for months, even though they were no longer driving anywhere. After some research, he realised that User Based Insurance was yet to hit Australia and sensing a very real business opportunity, picked up the family and moved back to Melbourne.