Metromile, a San Francisco based car insurance start-up, has announced that Ryan Graves intends to make a $50 million investment in the company personally and through his investment firm, Saltwater.
Graves, Uber’s former senior vice president of global operation, latest investment includes secondary purchases and participation in the previously announced PIPE transaction that will close alongside the merger with INSU Acquisition Corp.
He will join Metromile’s board of directors following the business combination’s close, joining Mark Cuban, and other institutional investors to support Metromile’s growth plans as a public company.
Before founding Saltwater, from 2017 to 2019, Graves served on the board of directors of Uber Technologies. He was Uber’s first employee, first chief executive officer, and a member of the founding team.
Metromile Founder and Chairman David Friedberg commented: “Ryan has a remarkable reputation as an energetic and thoughtful business builder. His leadership and operating skills made Uber one of the fastest-growing companies of all time.
Metromile Founder and Chairman David Friedberg As Metromile accelerates growth and scale, Ryan’s partnership will be immensely valuable to our Board and management team. We are thrilled to have him become an owner in the business and sit side-by-side our Board and management team as we execute our growth plans as a public company.”
Graves said: “Metromile has a discipline and long-term orientation reminiscent of Berkshire Hathaway combined with the kind of truly transformative technology that initially attracted me to Uber. The founders and the management team are purpose-driven and have engineered a platform poised to change a massive industry meaningfully.
“I spend my time and invest my capital in a concentrated way and aim to be an active partner to businesses that offer the ability to do that for decades to come. With this investment, I’m making the largest professional commitment I’ve made since Uber. Metromile is a rare find.”
Metromile Chief Executive Officer Dan Preston added: “We are thrilled to have Ryan join Metromile. He is an incredible operator and investor and appreciates how durable economics enables speed and scale.
“Ryan shares our belief that the automotive and auto insurance markets are rapidly digitising, as new modes of transportation, autonomous vehicles and remote work rewrite how these industries will operate.
“With Ryan’s partnership, we intend to lead that change, helping consumers with fair prices and better experiences, while delivering for our shareholders along the way.”
