AI insurtech Ominimo bags its first investment at a $220M valuation

Summary

How do you get talented engineers to work for a startup in a mundane field at a time when more exciting companies are paying well and hiring aggressively? Here’s an answer from one insurance startup out of Poland called Ominimo: make pay competitive, yes, but more importantly, give those engineers the license to apply their talent and reinvent how the field works. Launching bootstrapped just 12 months ago, Ominomo believes it’s found a different and better approach to understanding and pricing risk. It’s already profitable and growing fast, with 300,000 policies signed up in its first market of Hungary. Now, to fuel its next stage of life, it’s taking its first outside investment from a strategic backer, Zurich Insurance Group. TechCrunch understands from sources that Zurich is making a €10 million equity investment (around $11 million) for 5% of the company, valuing Ominimo at €200 million ($220 million). Neither Ominimo nor Zurich commented on the amount invested but both have confirmed the valuation. Ominimo’s funding is coming at a time when one of the most well-known and well-capitalized insurance startups in Europe — the once-unicorn WeFox — is selling off parts of its business and picking up lifeline financing to keep from going under. That serves as both a cautionary tale about how to grow an insurance business, but also a clear opportunity. Arguably the reason WeFox grew so fast was because of demand in the market (both from consumers and investors), if only that demand wave could be surfed without wiping out. Ominimo is already profitable in its current business, but it’s arguably a modest effort. Today Ominimo is active in just one market, Hungary, and focuses on just one kind of insurance, car insurance for consumers. The plan is to replicate its model to more geographies and categories. Will will expand into more than 10 more new markets, starting with Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands — using Zurich as its risk carrier, with Ominimo becoming a broker,...