A San Francisco-based insurance startup that sells coverage to other startup companies is growing its Chicago office as the city continues to become a hotbed for the insurance-tech industry.
Vouch, a Y Combinator-backed startup that sells insurance specifically targeted for startups, plans to triple its Chicago workforce by the end of 2020. It currently has a team of a dozen working out of a temporary office space, but is soon moving into a 6,000 sq. ft. space on N. LaSalle St. Vouch currently employs about 35 people across its Chicago and Bay Area offices, and expects the Chicago location to account for half of its workforce by the end of the year.
Vouch offers general liability, business property, cyber insurance and other areas of coverage in a more than dozen states, including Illinois. Its customers include startups like Aunt Flow and Savi. Locally, it works with Chicago companies TruePublic, Havoc Shield and Cambio Money. Vouch has raised around $70 million to date, including a $45 million round in November that was led by Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund.
Vouch's growth in Chicago comes as the city has become home to an increasing number of high-growth insurance-tech upstarts. Clearcover, a startup that’s changing the way people buy car insurance, raised $50 million in January, bringing its total funding raised to date to more than $100 million. Kin, a startup that focuses on home insurance, raised $47 million last year. Other local VC-backed insurance-tech startups include DataCubes, Arturo and Figo Pet Insurance.
"There's a really strong insur-tech community in Chicago," CEO Sam Hodges said in an interview. "The city has a deep insurance history. There's a big insurance talent pool in Chicago."
The expanded Chicago office will house Vouch's insurance team, sales, finance and engineering roles.
