Partner Article

honcho boosted by £150k Finance Durham backing

Newcastle tech startup honcho is moving closer to realising its concept of disrupting the car insurance market.

The business, which is aiming to secure £650k to bring its app to market, has received a significant boost following the Finance Durham Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, agreeing to invest £150k in the platform.

The team at honcho approached the crowd-funding platform CrowdCube in late November to offer UK drivers and investors the chance to take a stake in the company, after EU funds allocated to support the launch were put on indefinite hold.

honcho had already reached half of its fundraising target when Maven pledged its support. With this investment, the business will have achieved around 80% of its target through the crowdfunding campaign.

Gavin Sewell, CEO honcho, comments: “We are thrilled to have secured this support from Maven, and we look forward to moving operations to Durham and adding to its growing fin-tech cluster, with the likes of Atom Bank already thriving in the region, and working with both Business Durham and Maven as well as our CrowdCube investors as we bring honcho to market in 2018.

“We are immensely excited about offering such a consumer-friendly insurance service within the UK. The model is one of a kind and will be revolutionary for drivers, in particular young motorists who find securing a competitive deal incredibly challenging.”

Alex Marsh, Investment Manager at Maven Capital Partners, added: “The Finance Durham Fund was created with the specific aim of identifying and supporting growth of high potential businesses in Durham and the North East.

“We believe honcho is an exciting new business and we were keen to support its ambitious plans to improve the lot of motorists across the UK, as well as create jobs and enhance the economic prosperity of County Durham.”

Marsh continues: “Maven has a strong track record of investing in exciting technology businesses and has invested over £55m in to the tech sector since 2009.”

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