AXA-backed OTA insurance provider Setoo secured €8m funding round

AXA-backed OTA insurance provider Setoo secured €8m funding round

Firm enables online businesses to create and sell personalised insurance protection Continue reading

Setoo, a provider of insurance products to OTAs, has announced the completion of an €8 million Series A funding round.

The latest investment brings the total amount raised to date to €10.3 million. The lead investor in this and a previous seed round was Kamet, AXA’s Insurtech startup studio.

Guillaume Borie, chief innovation officer of the Group, AXA, said “Our investment in Setoo supports AXA’s strategy to build more impactful insurance platforms as one of our four key priorities for innovation and to become a partner for the end customer.

“Setoo’s platform enables digital businesses to create, through automation, new types of insurance that are more relevant to consumers. Drawing on our expertise, Setoo is building a fantastic on-demand platform that will future-proof its clients’ businesses.”

Noam Shapira, Setoo co-chief executive added: “Setoo stands for simplicity – in French ‘c’est tout’ means ‘that’s it’.

“My Co-founder Eyal Gluska and I chose the name to symbolise how simple and quick it is to create effective new protection products using the platform, and the simplicity of the products created for the consumer. This investment from Kamet is key to helping us expand across the EU and build further new products to empower more businesses to take control of insurance for their consumers.”

Setoo enables online businesses to create and sell personalised insurance protection tailored to consumers’ needs and designed for the digital age, which can be embedded into the customer buying journey.

The firm says consumers are increasingly unwilling to spend money on what they see as irrelevant insurance products that don’t meet their needs and this is having a negative impact on firms that see offering insurance as key to driving ancillary revenue and customer experience.

It claims by offering targeted products, OTAs are able to “delight” their customers, generate new revenue streams and differentiating themselves from competitors.

Setoo policies cover risks that relate to external events that could impact the customer journey, for example, an OTA selling connecting flights from multiple airlines can provide insurance to cover for missed flight connections if preceding flights are delayed or cancelled.

In the event of a missed flight Setoo sends an automated SMS to the consumer on behalf of the OTA, explaining that a full refund has been provided and offering alternative flight suggestions.

In addition, tour operators selling product like ski holidays can insure against a lack of snow, fully automating payment and removing the hassle of the claims process for the customer.

Setoo uses the Managing General Agent (MGA) model to sell insurance, so the company is licensed by the FCA to distribute products on behalf of insurers in the EU.