California-headquartered, homeowners focused InsurTech firm, Hippo, has announced the expansion of its reinsurance panel and the establishment of its own captive as it eyes continued growth.
Founded in 2015, Hippo looks to transform home insurance and ownership by providing a more efficient and affordable service to U.S. homeowners.
The InsurTech company first entered the insurance sector in 2017 and has raised $209 million through its initial funding rounds.
At the start of 2018, Hippo announced a new strategic partnership with Spinnaker Insurance Company, with the ambitious aim to expand its U.S. presence and smart home cover across the region.
The company then partnered with Verisk and revealed that it had integrated Verisk solutions into its range of products, enabling the firm to automatically fill in the information needed to quote and bind a home insurance policy and supply customers with a quote in just 60 seconds.
In July of last year, Hippo revealed that through a series D funding round led by Bond, it had raised $100 million and was planning to use the proceeds to expand its geographical footprint, grow its distribution networks, and deepen its direct-to-consumer product portfolio.
Now, in order to push for additional growth, Hippo has announced its diversified panel of reinsurers to support its plans for continued expansion in the year ahead.
The panel includes Arch, Markel, RenaissanceRe, TransRe and others, and now reinsures the carrier behind Hippo’s largest program, and, offers active protection for thousands of homeowners across the 15 U.S. states.
At the same time, Hippo has announced that as part of the panel it has established its own captive to participate in the risk and underwriting profit. Hippo states that this new reinsurance structure enables its largest program to expand the reach of the business and ultimately attract new customers.
Ken Brandt, TransRe’s President of Global Underwriting Operations, commented: “Hippo believes that homeowners’ insurance and protection can be improved through technology. By combining home checkups with smart monitors, they expect to reduce the number of serious events. We share that vision, and we are pleased to support Hippo’s technology-enabled products and services.”
Assaf Wand, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-founder of Hippo, added: “We’ll continue to focus on building the best possible homeowners insurance product for our customers, to keep them well-protected, while adding more value on the home maintenance and safety side to mitigate claims and lower overall loss ratios.
“As we expand to even more homes across the country, a diversified reinsurance panel ensures that our customers are protected in the most effective and cost-efficient way.”
