London insurance provider aims to double headcount after 'biggest ever' investment round

A London insurance provider has announced that it is set to double its headcount following its biggest ever investment round.

Urban Jungle, which uses data and machine learning to detect fraud, has raised £8m of investment through the round, with backing from investors including Mundi Ventures and Eka Ventures.

The funding is the biggest yet for Urban Jungle, more than doubling the sums previously invested in the business to a total of £15.8m.

It said that it will use the funding to double its headcount across the next 12 months.

This round includes £2m of investment from specialist insurtech investor Mundi Ventures, which describes the company as a “team of scientists”. A further £500k comes from existing investor Eka Ventures, with the remaining investment coming from private backers.

Jimmy Williams, CEO of Urban Jungle, said: “We’ve continued to grow strongly throughout the pandemic and that has been attractive for both new and existing investors.

“Our tech platform means we can grow our customer base rapidly without having to build an army of customer service agents.

“That said, we’ve got ambitious growth plans, so we’ll be doubling our headcount in the next 12 months to support that.

“Insurance companies effectively discriminate against various different groups, for example young customers, people on low incomes and people who have moved to the country recently. We think you shouldn’t be charged more for things that you can’t control.

“Our data helps us detect very quickly when potential fraudsters are lying and, as a result, allows us to offer cover to a much broader group of customers who have proven to be honest.

“Yes, we’ve made insurance 100 per cent digital, fast, flexible and affordable, but it’s our ability to help a very broad range of customers, with carefully crafted insurance products, that really makes us stand out.”

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