Open raises $31m Series B to bring connected insurance to the world

Australasian insurtech Open raised a $31 million growth round from international investors, led by Movac (NZ) with Latitude (UK) and returning investor AirTree Ventures (AU). This brings the scale-up’s total capital raised to $53 million.Open is on a mission to provide the fastest insurance, at the best price, for the world. Its car and home insurance products are digitised from end-to-end, making insurance simple and fast for everyone, everywhere. Open’s customers enjoy a fast, predictable customer experience, with 80% of insurance tasks - from quote to claim - being completed automatically or via digital self-service experiences.Having proven the model for connected insurance in Australia with over 70,000 customers, Open is now expanding internationally, first to New Zealand, launching in late 2021, and then to the UK, targeting a launch of mid-2022. Open will use the funds to expand its teams based in Australia and New Zealand, accelerate growth and add new products for the SME segment. The funding round follows a strong year, which saw the business more than double its revenue.Globally, insurance is one of the world’s least digitally mature industries, scoring just 47 out of 100 on BCG’s Digital Acceleration Index. Lying significantly below other financial services sectors, insurance has remained confusing, paper-based, heavily intermediated and completely isolated from consumers’ digital worlds.Open is capitalising on a  global opportunity for connected insurance. “Imagine a world in which you only pay for car insurance based on how much you drive, your home contents policy automatically updates when you buy new tech, and your travel insurance automatically activates when you land in another country. These are the possibilities Open’s connected insurance offers today through our direct to consumer brand Huddle, as well as partnerships with leading brands such as Telstra Plus, ahm, and On by EnergyAustralia.” notes Jason Wilby, one of Open’s Cofounders.Open’s partners can embed insurance into any app or website in just a couple of hours, via Open’s powerful APIs, making it simple to share data, prepopulate quotes, and offer personalised savings. Fintechs, car and home lenders, telcos, utilities and insurers are partnering with Open to create new revenue streams by offering embedded insurance.Insurance is one of the last areas of financial services to be disrupted, chiefly due to high barriers to entry. “Insurtech is years behind payments and lending in terms of digitisation and it’s in need of renewed focus on customer outcomes.” said Jason Graham , Partner, Movac.  “Open is the leading embedded insurance player across Australia and New Zealand. Their technology is built to bring trust back to the insurance industry and through their exponential growth, we can see that consumers prefer this new, ethical, digital way of doing insurance. Open had a number of investor options, and we’re delighted that they were compelled by our experience, networks and investment track record. Open becomes our ninth portfolio company in Fund 5”.“We’ve always been driven to deliver better outcomes for customers by solving insurance problems with technology. Now, with international VC funds, Movac and Latitude, backing our mission, we’re excited about helping customers across the world save money, time and stress.” Jonathan Buck, Cofounder Open.About OpenOpen is on a mission to offer the fastest insurance at the best price for the world. Businesses of all sizes embed Open’s car, home and travel insurance into their digital experiences.Our flagship products are available under the Huddle brand, and also as a bespoke white-label solution. We work with many large brands and leading tech companies such as Telstra Plus, Plenti, ahm, and On by EnergyAustralia.Open operates across Australia and New Zealand today, and soon will expand to the UK and Europe. We are proud to count Airtree Ventures (AU), Movac (NZ), Latitude (UK), Hollard Insurance (AU), Seven West Media (AU) and Five V (AU) amongst our investors. Open products are underwritten by The Hollard Insurance Company in Australia and Tower in New Zealand.We believe in using business as a force for good, and are a certified B Corporation. For more information visit beopen.com.