AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Cove, the Auckland based insurance startup striving to simplify insurance, today announced the completion of a $2 million
financing round. Existing investors showed strong support for Cove’s mission and progress to date and were joined by new
investors including Greenlight Re Innovations. This brings Cove’s total funding to date to $5 million.
“We’ve been working for nearly two years now to create an insurance experience New Zealanders will love, at a
competitive price, and managed fully online” explains Cove CEO and co-founder Andy Coon.
“Kiwis are used to slick online experiences with their banking these days, and the bar in terms of digital experience
has been raised significantly by the likes of Netflix, Spotify and Uber, but for some reason insurance has been left
behind in adopting user-friendly technology.
“This investment round will allow us to further develop our existing product to sufficiently leapfrog the traditional
insurance companies in New Zealand, and to offer what we believe to be a best-in-class experience for our customers.”
“We’ll also be able to deploy more resources to marketing to let more Kiwis know there’s a better option out there for
their car insurance”
Cove is excited to welcome Greenlight Re Innovations (GRI) onto its share register. GRI is part of Greenlight Capital
Re, Ltd, a specialist property and casualty reinsurance company headquartered in the Cayman Islands and supports
insurance technology innovators through investment, risk capacity, and strategic advice.
Greenlight Re Chief Executive Officer Simon Burton said, “We believe Cove’s technology-driven
business model has the potential to transform New Zealand’s insurance market. Consumers are
demanding a fully online experience, and Cove has delivered it for motor and mobile phone
insurance. We look forward to supporting Cove as it develops new product offerings.”
Cove’s Corporate Advisor, Natasha Mandie, Managing Director of EM Advisory, added, “we have worked with technology
companies all over the world, and were drawn by Cove’s scaleable, digitally-led insurance business. The success of this
round, and the international investor interest vindicates the decisions the team have made.”
Cove launched publicly in September 2018 and brought a conversational chatbot interface to manage insurance. Customers
can now also interact with Cove through its class-leading web experience. Today Cove offers car and phone insurance,
with plans to other forms of insurance in the months to come.
ENDS