UK insurtech Honcho raises £1.2m funding for expansion

UK-based insurtech start-up Honcho has raised £1.2 million investment from venture capital firm Insurtech Gateway, a London-based incubator and fund, to drive its next phase of growth.

Existing investors Finance Durham, the North East Development Capital Fund (NEDCF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund, also participated in the crowdfunding round.

The Durham-based start-up raised £1.8 million between 2018 and 2019 from a combination of crowd investors on Crowdcube, angel investors and investment house Maven Capital Partners, who manage both Finance Durham and NEDCF.

The company launched their car insurance marketplace last year, and has been preparing for expansion into new insurance markets in 2020. Honcho's plans for 2020 include the launch of dedicated new reverse auction marketplaces for van insurance and for learner driver insurance.

Honcho CEO Gavin Sewell said: “Raising investment is one of the most challenging aspects of running a startup, and we’re delighted to have achieved this £1.2m raise with the continued support of Maven and with further investment from the crowd. We’re also thrilled to welcome Insurtech Gateway to the honcho family. As specialists in our sector they will bring an immense amount of support to honcho as we enter our next phase of growth. Insurtech Gateway’s expertise across the sector extends from technological capabilities to expertise on products and consumer acquisition, and we’re looking forward to working with them.”

Insurtech Gateway CEO Richard Chattock said: "Today's consumers rightly demand fairer, more transparent insurance. honcho's new model delivers this. It reduces commissions, eliminates bias and allows consumers to make purchasing decisions on product as well as price. We're delighted to be joining honcho's journey to revolutionising personal lines insurance distribution."

Talking about honcho’s 2020 growth plans, chief product officer Tom Spence said: “There are over 4 million vans on the UK’s roads and the nation’s van drivers have been at the mercy of price comparison websites for their insurance for far too long. honcho’s van insurance marketplace will launch this spring and we’ll be bringing long-overdue transparency and fairness from some of the UK’s leading van insurance providers.

“Following van insurance, we’ll be extending honcho to learner drivers. When you’re learning to drive the last thing you need is to navigate the mysterious maze of learner insurance to then get lumbered with something that isn’t right for you. honcho is going to change all of this with our special learner zone in the spring, bringing our unique reverse auction marketplace to both temporary and annual learner driver insurance.”