London insurtech Urban Jungle scores £16.5 million for European expansion

London-based insurance technology startup Urban Jungle has raised £16.5 million in their latest Series A funding round. The round was led by North American-based venture capital investor Intact Ventures and Ingka Group, which controls hundreds of IKEA stores globally. The investment was also backed by existing investors, including Mundi Ventures, Eka Ventures and former Prudential UK CEO Rob Devey.

The company had raised €9 million in its earlier funding round last year. The Series A round brings the total amount raised by the business to £32 million. The insurtech firm will use the funding to rapidly scale its home insurance business in the U.K. and add new markets.

Founded by CEO Jimmy Williams and former Google developer Greg Smyth,  it aims to change the insurance industry by putting fairness and transparency at its core. Talking about expansion beyond its home turf, Urban Jungle co-founder and CEO Jimmy Williams said: “We’re already one of the leading insurance brands for the renters and homeowners in the U.K. But our ambition is to become the number one insurance business in the U.K. and beyond. This funding is a big step towards that, and we’ll use it to rapidly grow our customer base and roll out our simple, fair insurance into other markets in the year to come. It will also allow us to create 100 new jobs in the U.K.”

According to the company, it recently hit the milestone of helping 100,000 customers get better home insurance in the country. The platform uses latest technology to help keep insurance affordable for its customers, by offering its customers 100% online services, or through its use of AI and machine learning to catch fraud.

Justin Smith-Lorenzetti, head of investments at Intact Ventures said: “By leveraging the latest in automation as well as a digital-by-default strategy, the platform has built an impressive business that consumers love.”