Insurtech honcho in final stage of capital investment raise

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It has £300k of remaining capacity in the crowd raise

Durham-based reverse comparison auction insurtech Honcho is in the final stages of its 2019-2020 £2.25m investment raise.

This summer honcho will be using Seedrs crowdfunding platform and this move diversifies the insurtech’s investment base.

The crowd raise on Seedrs will begin on Monday 13 July 2020 and it has just £300k of remaining capacity.

The funding was launched last summer with investment from Maven Capital Partners and it raised £750k.

In April this year it followed this with investment from Maven investment plus a new investment from Insurtech Gateway alongside crowd investors on the Crowdcube platform of £1.2m.

It follows Insurtech UK and Seedrs joining forces to boost growth for the insurtech sector.

Third time

Speaking about the raise on Seedrs, honcho’s chief executive, Gavin Sewell said: “This will be the third time that we’ve offered an investment in honcho to the general public, and it continues to be a really important part of our investment mix.

“Whilst we are very well supported by our two institutional investors, crowd investors bring a very different kind of dynamic to our business and one that we’re really keen on. Our crowd investors get to have early access to our products and help shape their design whilst at the same time having the opportunity to invest in an early stage business that, in most startups, would not be possible.

“Seedrs is a great crowdfunding platform with over £280m in investment raised through them last year. Critically for us, they have a track record in fintech and insurtech businesses including Revolut, Wrisk and Pluto amongst many others. We’re really excited to be bringing honcho to Seedrs as well.”

Purchasing decisions

Meanwhile its commercial director, Frank Speight, said: “For years we’ve been conditioned by the big price comparison sites into believing that “cheap” is the only thing to look for in insurance, yet ironically insurance is one of the most critical purchasing decisions to get right in terms of the impact it could have on you if you choose badly. Cheap is only any good if it gives you the level of cover that you need such that, if the worst happens and you need to claim, you’ve actually got the backup that matches your needs.

“If you were buying a car, a TV or even some clothes, the chances are you’d have a set of things that you wanted in your purchase and you’d then try to find something that matched your needs, at the best possible price. This is what honcho brings to insurance. We call it protection discovery, and we’re on a mission to get drivers across Britain to buy the insurance cover that is right for them, at the best possible price.”