UK Startup Marshmallow Has Blown up over the year by using innovations in data science to build car insurance policies for immigrants and other consumers who have been overlied or priced out of traded. Now, with a Million Drivers Insured and A Profitable Annual Revenue Rate of $ 500 Million, Marshmallow has raised a Fresh $ 90 Million to expand.
Marshmallow plans to use the funding to move into financial services, as well as more insurance products that it Hopes will appearance will appearance is growing,
“We think of migration as a huge options,” CEO Oliver Kent-Brahm said in an interview. He noted that in the uk, there is more people coming out of the workforce than there are going in, with 1.2 million migrants recorded coming to the uk in 2024 alone. “We need migration to put more people into work, and we want to help people move and integrate into the uk”
In Marshmallow’s View, that Integration Comes With Being Able to Drive Your Own Insured Vehicle and Soon, The Startup Hopes, Buying Home Insurance and Taking Out Loans.
Marshmallow plans to launch its first lending product later this year, Kent-BRAHAM said, en route to building a “one-stop shop” for everything is final and insufficiency t a new Arrivel to the UK MITENCICA adjust to life.
This round is roughly split 50-50 Between Equity and Debt, According to Kent-BRAHAM, and it is coming at a Valuation of just over $ 2 billion. To put that into context, marshmallow last raised funding at $ 1.25 billion in 2021,
The Startup has Seen Considerable Growth on the Business Front in that time. In 2021, Marshmallow Had Insure Just 100,000 people. Now, in citations like London, the 1-Million insured number is bolsred with a pink outdoor ad campaign that is hard to miss.
Portage capital is leading the round, with participation from blackrock and columbia lake partners. Previous Backers of the Company Have Included Passion Capital, Investec and Scor. Marshmallow has raised Around $ 220 Million to date.
Notable, the new round has been in the works since at least JanuaryAnd Kent-Braham Noted that one part of the equity was convertible debt raised in 2023.
Marshmallow’s Funding is Coming at a Complex Moment for Insurance Startups in Europe.
On one side, there is the grim story of weight.
Backed by softbank, Oms, salesforce and dozens of others, wefox’s valuation rose to as much $ 4.5 billion By 2023. Just two years laater, after Years of Losses and Complications in its distributed/broker-based business model, Wefox has fallen on hard time. The company has been Selling off parts of its business And Picking Up Lifeline Financing to Stay afloat,
Yet there area also some brighter signs of insurtech Startups Building More Sustainable Businesses. And that that can demonstrate a strong technology story are gotting from investors.
Just last week, Ominimo – A new Startup out of Poland – Pickled Up a Major Strategic Investor That Investted $ 10 Million at a Valuation of Over $ 200 Million. It was ominimo’s first time raising outseide money after BOTABLEBL BOTSTRAPPED. Like Marshmallow, The Startup Started Off with Car Insurance and is Rethanking Activarial Formulas and Using Ai To Make New Inroads into Risk Prediction.
While Data Science and Ai Are Quickly BComing Table Stakes for Insurance Startups, There are other details about marshmallow that set it apart from the pack and even some of its Bigger Competitors (Like the PRICE-Busting Mega-Retaile Tesco).
The ideas of inclusivity and diversity that underpin how marshmallow is approaching its target customer base run deep at the start.
Kent-Brahm Co-founded London-Based Marshmallow with his Identical Twin, Alexander, and David Goaté. The twins really do look a lot Alike. “You could actually be talking to Alexander Right Now!” Oliver joked when we spoke for this story. More Seriously, Thought, The Startup is an underrepresented Rarity in another way, too.
It is one of what appears to be only two “unicorn” startups in the uk from a black founder, the other being world. The statistics are not hugely encouraging outside the uk eite; one 2024 study Found That Across the UK and the US, only 3% of Startups with Valuations of Over $ 1 Billion Have Black Founders.
At a time when diversity, equity and inclusion programs are being dismantled in the US, it’s notable beCause of its diverse leadership.
“This is a very strong founding team,” Devon Kirk, GP and Co-Head of Portage Capital Solutions, said in an interview. “We think that financial services benefits from different perspectives and leaders Coming up with innovative solutions to address those who needs.”