CHICAGO, IL – June 11, 2018 – Kin, an insurtech startup that’s simplifying and transforming home insurance, closed $13 million in funding so it can help protect homeowners nationwide. Kin also welcomed Caribou Honig, chairman and cofounder of the InsureTech Connect conference and a founding partner of the boutique venture capital firm QED Investors, to its board.
Since its official launch in 2017, Kin has provided home insurance in Florida and Texas, but plans to make its offerings available nationally by the year’s end. Its latest round of financing, backed by the Silicon Valley VC firm August Capital, will help the company launch new products over the next two quarters. Previously, Kin raised $4 million from leading venture capitalists and angel investors, among them Commerce Ventures, Omidyar Network, 500 Startups, Chicago Ventures, and Portag3 Ventures.
Seasoned insurtech veteran Honig brings years of insurance and data-driven marketing experience to this next stage of growth for the company. His expertise will help guide key decisions as Kin expands its reach.
“The insurance industry is long overdue for change,” said Honig. “It’s exciting to work with a company that can see beyond the status quo. Instead of slightly improving the product, Kin aims to reinvent home insurance.”
Historically, buying home insurance meant long applications, complex policies, limited offerings, and time lost on the phone with a local broker. Kin created an all-online process that prioritizes simplicity, affordability, and convenience. Homeowners can get a quote in seconds with just their address, and Kin can insure homes in riskier regions that are often overlooked by big insurance companies.
“Owning a home is challenging enough. We think insuring it should be easy,” said Sean Harper, CEO of Kin. “Some home insurance applications are so complicated you’d have to be a home inspector to accurately fill them out. So we rely on data to tell us what we need to know about the home. It saves the homeowner legwork and lets us offer the right coverage at a good price. That’s the kind of change we want to bring to the national level.”
