Chicago-based Kin, an insuretech startup that’s created an easier way to buy home insurance, raised a new round of funding to launch its own insurance carrier in Florida.
The startup announced Tuesday that it raised $47 million in a round led by August Capital. Hudson Structured Capital Management (HSCM Bermuda), Avanta, the UChicago Startup Investment Program and existing investors also participated.
The new round brings Kin’s total funding to more than $60 million. Kin, founded in 2016, last raised $12 million in 2018 to continue growing its insurance platform that allows it to make underwriting decisions quickly based on data from satellite images, public records and other sources.
The new financing will be mainly used to support the creation of its Kin Interinsurance Network, a new insurance entity that allows the startup to independently offer its services in Florida. Up until now, Kin has been operating as a managing general agent, a model that’s allowed Kin to use its tech to insure policyholders but required them to use another insurance company’s license to do it, said CEO Sean Harper.
He said by launching the Kin Interinsurance Network, the startup can control the entire insurance process for its policyholders, which also brings down the cost.
“A big part of what we’re doing is using technology to reduce the cost of providing insurance," Harper said in an interview. “Having to pay that extra fee was really at odds with one of our main goals.”
Florida is currently the only state that is operating on Kin’s new network. The other states that Kin offers its services in—Texas, Alabama and Georgia—are still operating on rented licenses.
The startup has found its niche in states that experience extreme weather and where homes are more likely to be damaged. Harper said the company plans to expand to more states by the end of the year, the next being California because it experiences wildfires and mud slides.
Of the $47 million Kin raised, $35 million of it will go toward paying for the Kin Interinsurance Network. The rest of the funds are going toward marketing initiatives and hiring more software engineers, Harper said. Kin currently employs 75 people.
To accommodate its growing staff, Kin has moved offices twice in the last couple years as it outgrew co-working offices. Earlier this year, Kin moved into its own office in the Loop.
“We have a team of the best insurance minds in the business guiding our path, and we believe in what we’re doing: taking the difficulty and high cost out of home insurance and focusing on what really matters—taking care of the homeowner,” Harper said.
