Pay-by-mile car insurtech By Miles nabs £15m Series B funding

UK-based insurtech By Miles, which provides pay-per-mile car insurance, has raised £15m in a Series B funding round led by CommerzVentures, the corporate venture capital arm of Germany’s Commerzbank.

Existing investors Octopus Ventures, Insurtech Gateway and JamJar investments also participated in the round.

By Miles saw its highest ever sales week in April. The investment will be used to scale the business to support growing consumer interest in flexible car insurance models during lockdown and beyond.

James Blackham, co-founder and CEO of By Miles, said: “This crisis has shown UK drivers what we’ve known for a while: the way car insurance works now isn’t working for everyone. They’re rightly questioning why they should pay for insurance they’re not able to use, and asking why traditional car insurers can’t provide a flexible alternative to meet their needs.

Blackham explained: “Our pay-by-mile car insurance provides lower mileage drivers with a flexible, lower cost policy that drivers can track in real-time. We’ve already proved this is something UK drivers want, hitting nearly 39 million miles insured. And we only expect to see demand growing as driving habits shift while we work our way back to a new normal post lockdown.

“We’re thrilled that CommerzVentures are joining us to bring our fairer kind of car insurance to even more drivers. They bring considerable experience of scaling new insurance businesses, and we look forward to working with them as demand for pay-by-mile grows.”

Paul Morgenthaler, partner at CommerzVentures, said: “Car insurance needs a shake-up if it’s going to remain relevant in a world of semi-autonomous, connected and electric cars. And in the current climate, insurers can’t ignore that - drivers want more flexibility and fairer pricing. By Miles is offering just that: a simple and transparent pay-by-mile model, exceptional customer service and significant savings via an easy-to-use app.

“Our job is to support the growth of companies with the potential to redefine and modernise insurance. I believe in By Miles we’ve found exactly that, and we’re excited to be joining them on the journey to transform car insurance as we know it, forever.”