SoftBank Leads $300 Million Round for Online Insurer Lemonade

Online insurance company Lemonade Inc. has completed a $300 million series D round led by existing investor SoftBank Group, the company announced Thursday. Allianz, General Catalyst, GV (formerly Google Ventures), OurCrowd, and Thrive Capital also participated. The round, which will close during the second quarter of 2019, brings Lemonade's total funding to date to $480 million.

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Founded in 2015 by Shai Wininger and Daniel Schreiber, Lemonade offers customizable property and casualty insurance policies at a flat monthly rate in 27 U.S. states. For 2018, the company had over $57 million in sales, according to its statements, up from $10.1 million in 2017. Lemonade employs 170 people, 60 of them in its Israeli offices.

The company intends to use the funds for its previously announced expansion to Europe and to further its expansion in the U.S. The European launch is "very close" and will be much larger than previously estimated, Wininger said in an interview with Calcalist. Lemonade is also developing new products, some to be unveiled later this year, that will significantly improve the company's ability to handle crises, he said.

“We’ve watched Lemonade transform insurance using big data and AI, reaching half a million homes in a little over two years - a shockingly rapid pace,” said Shu Nyatta, a senior investment professional within the SoftBank Group and a Lemonade Board Member.