Insurtech start-up Honcho has raised £850,000, after EU funds to support it were put on hold. The start-up, which describes itself as a “reverse-auction marketplace” where insurers bid for customers, had set an initial funding target of £650,000. However, it exceeded its target with nine days of its campaign remaining, having secured investments from 713 investors. It will benefit from a conditional investment of £150,000 from the Finance Durham Fund, now that it has successfully completed its campaign Gavin Sewell, Honcho chief executive, commented: “We are delighted to have raised significantly more than our target and to now be able to make progress on the next phase of the honcho project. The support we have received since the launch of the crowdfunding campaign has been phenomenal and we are thrilled to have secured investment from numerous CrowdCube investors, including one of the UK’s most active private equity houses and SME finance providers, Maven Capital Partners.” Sewell added: “We couldn’t be happier with how well the crowdfunding campaign has been received. It is a great example of how businesses can use alternative funding in the absence of investment from the EUI sources.”
UK insurtech start-up Honcho has raised £850,000 ($1.2m) through a crowdfunding venture after European Union funds supporting it were put on hold. The company is developing an insurance product that will allow people to buy and sell their own life insurance. The Finance Durham Fund will also release £150,000 of investment it had made conditional on Honcho making a success of its crowdfunding effort.