London’s insurtech startup Urban Jungle raises €9 million

London-based contents insurance startup Urban Jungle has raised €9 million in its latest funding round that saw participation from existing investors Mundi Ventures, Eka Ventures, and several Angel Investors, including Rob Devey. The firm is reporting that its largest raise to date will be used to continuing scaling operations and add new insurance products to the lineup. Urban Jungle has raised a total of €18.3 million. 

2x seed round investor, former Prudential UK (not to be confused with US-focused fortune 500 company Prudential Financial) CEO Rob Devey, who has previously served as a non-executive director will now become Urban Jungle’s Chairman (subject to regulatory approval).

Founded in 2016 by former Google and Facebook developer Greg Smyth and Jimmy Williams, Urban Jungle acts as a managing general agent and uses data and machine learning to detect fraud and increase access to insurance, specifically targeted at a younger demographic. 

The service offers insurance for renters, shared housing dwellers, and individuals that are often denied traditional insurance coverage. Urban Jungle covers, “phones, bikes, furniture, and all of your stuff,” and provides for fire and smoke damage, theft and vandalism, storms and flood, accidental damage, tenant liability, household leaks, public liability, and alternative accommodation.

Urban Jungle has a headcount of 30 members, and approximately 40,000 customers, a figure that more than doubled in size over the course of the pandemic.

“Insurance companies actually discriminate against a number of different groups, for example, young customers, people on low incomes, or those who have recently moved to the country. We believe that you shouldn’t charge more for things you can’t control,” says CEO Williams. “Our data helps us detect very quickly when potential fraudsters are lying and, as a result, allows us to offer coverage to a much wider group of customers who have proven to be honest. Yes, we have made insurance 100% digital, fast, flexible, and affordable, but it is our ability to help a very wide range of customers, with carefully crafted insurance products, that really makes us stand out.”