Lemonade, the New York-based insurance giant, has been officially launched in the United Kingdom, its fourth market in Europe and fifth overall, with a little help from one of the UK's oldest and largest insurance providers.
Lemonade, for the uninitiated, emerged in the trillion dollar insurance space in 2015 with a new vision of how consumers should be able to buy insurance. The name of the game was automation powered by artificial intelligence and mobile technology for registering and submitting claims, versus dusty old brokers and bureaucracy.
Besides that, the company has always expressed its ethics, positioning itself as the antithesis of a traditional insurance company: the company is a certified B corporation, which means that is independently evaluated for its social and environmental performance. Their business plan essentially consists of charging a flat fee and then donating part of their subscription earnings to a charity selected by each customer when they sign up.
However Lemonade remains very much a for-profit insurance giant, as raised nearly $500 million in funding as a start-up, from renowned sponsors such as Softbank, Alphabet's GV, Sequoia Capital y Allianz. The The company hit the public markets in the midst of the pandemic two years ago and, as with many digital cloud companies during the lockdown years, its shares soared, with the company reaching a market capitalization of 10.000 over million at one point before returning fall. The company's current valuation is less than $1.500 billion., reflecting a broader recession of insurtech which has hit many companies hard.
More recently, Lemonade closed its first acquisition when it bought auto insurance startup Metromile, before quickly dismissing around the 20% of your staff.
Lemonade lands in the UK
And all this fuss brings us to today, where Lemonade is now officially open for business in the UK, where it will be launched with a slightly smaller offer compared to what it offers in the US. In fact, in its domestic market, Lemonade offers insurance covering contents, homeowners, pets, auto and life.
For the UK market, Lemonade offers contents insurance starting at £4 per month and includes comprehensive cover for personal items up to £2,000 in value each up to a total value of £100,000. Customers may pay additional fees for additional coverage, such as accidental damage to mobile devices.
