Thimble, the platform that offers short-term and flexible insurance, recently raised a Series A funding of $22M. The funding round was led by IAC (InterActiveCorp).
The platform, earlier known as Verifly, entered into the marketplace in 2016 with an innovative idea of providing flexible insurance policies. It, unlike many others that were offering annual policies, realized that the work nature is changing. People are showing more interest in short-term and freelancing work options over the long-term ones. Because of this, annual policies were not making much difference in the economy. An event that was a reason why On-demand insurance industry scope was limited.
So, to increase the number of people applying for insurance policies and transform the traditional insurance economy, the company embraced the hourly-rate price model and provided On-demand insurance to drone pilots starting from $10/hr. It offered insurance policies that were underwritten by Markel and made them available on its official website and application by the hour, day, week, month, or year.
An impact of which is that today, the company serves customers from more than 120 professions like DJs, Beauticians, Handymen, Landscapers, and Dog walkers, with liability coverage. Also, about 50% of their customers have purchased policies to cover a single day or less.
And now, with a Series A funding round where previous investors like Slow Ventures, Open Ocean, and AXA Venture Partners have also participated, the company is hoping to expand their business model to new dimensions.
“Our long-term goal is to build the epic insurance business for small businesses that want to succeed on their own terms,” Jay Bregman, its Founder and CEO, said. “They can work as they want, they can get their [insurance coverage] certification instantly, etc. We think this is the foundation of a very large, diversified business.”
While this is their business aim and business model that is encouraging more people to invest in On-demand insurance development, one thing that is also making people wonder is their idea of picking the name Thimble.
Thimble, as per the founder, perfectly fits to their core business goals. It is a metal cap that is worn on fingers while sewing to provide somewhat safety. And this is what they do.
They provide small and customizable insurance coverage to all the people around – even for a single day.
The company’s products are backed by regulators in 48 states. It also has sold $100B+ in aggregate exposure and 75% of their customers are new to business insurance category.
And under the brand name Thimble, they are planning to sell over 100,000 policies by the end of 2019. They are working in the direction of hiring more people to increase their staff from 40 to around 100 within the next 18 months with the funds raised.
Besides, they are making efforts to introduce more insurance products into the market for small businesses that would be simple, flexible and affordable to all. Something that will show a new direction to the On-demand Insurance and gig economy.
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