“We are accelerating our efforts to make The Zebra a household name,” Melnick said. It’s also planning to create more “personalized experiences and results” via machine learning. Some of the things the company is planning include a national advertising campaign and adding tools and information so it can serve as an “insurance advisor,” and not just a site that refers people to carriers. The company also plans to use its new capital to do more hiring and focus strongly on continuing to build The Zebra’s brand, according to Melnick. We still had a nice chunk of money sitting on our balance sheet.” We’re pulling forward things that were planned for later in time. It’s more about accelerating growth and some of our product plans. “This new raise wasn’t to fund operations. “We’re not highly unprofitable or burning through money like crazy,” he told TechCrunch. The company was even profitable for a couple of months last year, somewhat “unintentionally,” according to Melnick. “And we’ve leaned more into brand marketing efforts.” “We’ve definitely improved our relationships with carriers and seen more carrier participation as they continue to embrace our model,” Melnick said. And The Zebra has increased its headcount to over 325, compared to about 200 in early 2020. For some context, that’s up from $8 million in September of 2020 and $6 million in May of 2020.Īlso, its revenue per applicant has grown at a clip of 100% year over year, according to Melnick. March marked the company’s highest-performing month ever, he said, with revenue totaling $12.5 million - putting the company on track to achieve an annual run rate of $150 million this year. The Zebra doubled its net revenue in 2020 to $79 million compared to $37 million in 2019, according to Melnick, who is former president of travel metasearch engine Kayak. Like many other financial services companies, The Zebra has benefited from the big consumer shift to digital services since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.Īnd we know this because the company is one of the few that are refreshingly open about their financials. It recently launched a dedicated home and auto bundled product, although much of its recent growth still revolves around its core auto offering, according to Melnick. Over time, it’s also “naturally” evolved to offer homeowners insurance with the goal of eventually branching out into renters and life insurance. The company partners with the top 10 auto insurance carriers in the U.S. The Zebra started out as a site for people looking for auto insurance via its real-time quote comparison tool. Previous backers also include Silverton Partners, Ballast Point Ventures, Daher Capital, Floodgate Fund, The Zebra CEO Keith Melnick, KDT and others.Īccording to Melnick, the round was all primary, and included no debt or secondary. The round size also is bigger than all of The Zebra’s prior rounds combined, bringing the company’s total raised to $261.5 million since its 2012 inception. Existing backers Weatherford Capital and Accel also participated in the funding event. The Zebra also would not disclose the name of the firm that led its Series D round, but sources familiar with the deal said it was London-based Hedosophia. (The company would not disclose its valuation at that time, saying now only that its new valuation of over $1 billion is a “nice step up.”) The Zebra, an Austin-based company that operates an insurance comparison site, has raised $150 million in a Series D round that propels it into unicorn territory.īoth the round size and valuation are a substantial bump from the $38.5 million Series C that Austin-based The Zebra raised in February of 2020.
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