Pet underwriter secures £15m funding boost

Pet insurer Napo has successfully raised a further £15m via a Series A funding round to increase the scale and speed of its product rollout, it announced today (8 November 2022).

Launched in December 2021, Napo currently insures in excess of 25,000 pets and is on track to increase that figure to 35,000 by the end of the year.

Its chief executive Jean-Phillippe Doumeng said its success had been down to a very different approach to the market.

He said: “Our mental model is fundamentally different from traditional pet insurance. We are aligning all stakeholders to look in the same direction by helping people to take better care of their pets.

“Our focus is on delivering true value-adds, offering expert advice and care to help prevent the need for treatment in the first place. This is of huge importance and a core principle for Napo, as research shows 40% of health problems in pets are preventable.”

Examples of Napo’s value-adds include access to 24/7 online vet consultations, obesity awareness resources and access to the Napo Puppy Academy – a series of weekly live classes to help puppy owners get on top of crucial training that can help reduce potential health issues down the line.

Demographic shift

The pandemic led to a boom in pet ownership that shifted the average demographic of pet owners – Gen Z and millennials now represent around 70% of pet owners, according to Napo.

This demographic shift has lead to a strong demand for a better value proposition with an enhanced customer experience, said the firm.

Co-founder and chief product officer Ludo Lacay added: “We are, at our core, a tech company and took the strategic decision to keep all of the critical parts in-house – including a purpose-built stack, combining tech industry best practices to build a connected and highly available insurance technology platform, as well as machine learning-based pricing.

“Using our experience across both health and tech, we’ve created a business that meets the demands of digital natives, as seamlessly and effortlessly as possible.

“This, tied in with Napo’s core value of focusing on prevention, rather than only treatment, has been key to our success.”

Doumeng concluded: “As our engaged audience grows, our ultimate ambition is to leverage insurance as a route into ‘all things’ pet, creating a one-stop, holistic service that forms an intuitive part of customers’ everyday lives.”