Honcho, a Durham, UK-based provider of an app designed to reduce cost burden on motorists, raised £850k in equity crowdfunding. 713 investors backed the company via CrowdCube. A conditional investment of £150k was made from the Finance Durham Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, pending the success of the crowdfunding campaign. The marketplace is due to launch into the car insurance market in 2018. Led by Gavin Sewell, CEO, honcho provides an app designed to reduce insurance costs for motorists. Unlike price comparison websites, which charge insurers large commissions, insurers pay honcho just £1 for the right to bid as many times as they like for a single customer, allowing them to reduce premiums for drivers and incentivizing them to do so in order to win their custom. honcho will act as a ‘matchmaker’ between customers and insurers, initially for car insurance, but ultimately across a range of other personal insurance products (such as home and pet) and markets. FinSMEs 13/01/2018
UK-based insurtech Honcho, which offers an app that enables car insurance companies to bid for motorists' business, has raised £850,000 ($1,180) in equity funding via CrowdCube. The firm also secured a conditional investment from the Finance Durham Fund of £150,000. Insurers pay Honcho £1 for the chance to bid as many times as they like for a customer, motivating them to keep their premiums competitive. In addition to its own funding, Honcho's investors include venture capital firms Accel Partners and Balderton Capital, along with existing investors, including General Motors, Ford Motor Company and BMW.