Founders: Daniel Schreiber (CEO), Shai Wininger
Launched: 2015
Headquarters: New York City
Funding: $480 million
Valuation: $2 billion (PitchBook)
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, Machine learning
Industry: Insurance, financial services
George Kavallines | CNBC
Before life gives you lemons, get Lemonade. This New York City-based company offers insurance — powered by AI, chatbots and behavioral economics — to first-time renters and homeowners. The advantage?: Customers are guided by a chatbot through the application process in under a minute, and claims get paid that quickly as well.
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Founders Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger created this business model to eliminate the conflict of interest between the insurer and the insured. It takes a flat fee from insurance applicants and donates, to a charity of the customer's choosing, any leftover money after claims have been paid. It charges renters a monthly subscription rate of $5 and homeowners a monthly rate of $25. Last year it partnered with WeLive, WeWork's residential-living offering, to offer Lemonade insurance to renters in its buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C.
In late November the company announced it was making its first foray into Europe but didn't specify a timetable or which country it would enter first. Europe is home to AXA Worldwide and Allianz, the two largest insurers worldwide, and both are investors in Lemonade. So far, the company has raised $480 million, including a $300 million round in April from SoftBank, General Catalyst and Thrive Capital. Lemonade has more than 300,000 customers and says it had $57 million in sales in 2018, with more than $162,135 given to charity.
