Insurtech startup Honey Insurance secures a record $108 million in Series A funding led by Gallatin Point Capital
Honey Insurance has successfully completed a $108 million funding round, the largest Series A ever raised in Australia. This is a significant milestone achieved in an environment where the Australian technology sector has experienced a >50% decline in venture capital investments in 2023 and where the global Insurtech landscape has seen a >70% reduction in funding in the same period. This mega-round demonstrates that founding teams in Australia continue to compete with the best on the global stage, and positions Honey Insurance as a strong challenger to the local home insurance oligopoly.
The round was led by Gallatin Point Capital, a private investment firm with US$5.0 billion assets under management, based in Greenwich, Connecticut (USA). Gallatin Point Capital’s primary investment focus is on financial institutions, and funds managed by it have made a number of insurance company and insurance sector investments globally.
Transforming Home Insurance with Smart Technology
Honey is a digital home-insurance provider where the ‘no-hassle’ purchase process that can completed in less than three minutes by using combining public house information, satellite data, and artificial intelligence to estimate rebuild costs.
Honey also offers customers technology and services that help to eliminate the ~50% of avoidable accidents that happen to homes. As an example, Honey offers qualifying customers a complimentary smart home sensor kit to monitor risks such as fire, water leaks, and intrusion. By helping to prevent incidents and offering proactive protection, Honey is reshaping the insurance landscape and helping Australians to stay safer, which ultimately reduces the cost of insurance and creates a win-win.
Honey’s approach to fair and consistent pricing, along with it’s simple product design, has led to fifteen exclusive partnerships over the past two years with companies such as Metricon, AGL, and Bank of Queensland.
Honey Insurance Founder and CEO Richard Joffe (pictured) said, “Honey Insurance is delighted to welcome our new partners, who will give us the firepower required over the next 18 months to triple revenues, turn profitable, and double headcount to over 200 people. The funding will allow us to further invest in our award-winning product design by making Honey a truly seamless experience from purchase to claim. The calibre of our investors underscores the unique opportunity we have to transform the Australian market, which for too long has been uncompetitive and lacking in innovation.
“We are also grateful for our partnership with RACQ under the leadership of David Carter. They have stood by us through all the bumps in the road, and their flexibility and long-term commitment is an example of how startups and incumbents can drive industry-wide change.”
Angelo Azar, the COO for Honey said, “As a tech-enabled insurance company, we are customer-obsessed, which has led to a Net Promoter Score of 92 which is the highest in Australia, and stems from our desire to ‘wow’ customers with every engagement. In fact, we were recently named as the 6th fastest growing technology company in Australia, which is quite an achievement for a company that was only launched in June 2021 with fewer than twenty employees.”
Honey Insurance Chair and former Foxtel and News Corporation CEO Peter Tonagh said, “Australia’s insurance industry has one of the lowest levels of investment into innovation relative to revenues in the world, and we are out to change that.
“We are leveraging some of the most innovative technology and data platforms globally to better protect the most valuable asset of most Australians – their homes.”
Lance Toler, Managing Director at Gallatin Point Capital, added, “The bar for us to enter a new market like Australia was very high, but the quality of the founding team, impressive growth, and innovative customer solutions that Honey brings to the table was a compelling combination. We came to the conclusion that a genuine challenger like Honey Insurance is well overdue in the Australian homeowners insurance industry, and we are excited to be supporting their journey.”
