Hedvig Raises SEK30m to Fuel Growth as it Transforms Home Insurance

STOCKHOLM, September 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Hedvig, the Stockholm-based startup reshaping home insurance, has raised 30 million kronor (2.85 million euros) from European investors, including Cherry Ventures and Khaled Helioui, to continue its aggressive growth plan and challenge the traditional insurance providers.

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"We're thrilled to have high-caliber investors Cherry Ventures and Khaled Helioui join our current backers and put their trust in Hedvig. Their experience from turning startups into industry leaders is an incredible asset as we accelerate our growth plans. Customers are not getting the user-friendly experience they deserve from the incumbent insurers. It is quite natural, since more complexity and friction gets people to use their insurance less - a profitable strategy for insurers. This goes against everything we believe in, and therefore we are turning it around completely. Our mission is to make home insurance an incredible experience that people use," says Lucas Carlsén, Hedvig co-founder and CEO.

The round's lead investor Cherry Ventures was started and is run by Filip Dames, Christian Meermann and Daniel P. Glasner who have launched the fund after exiting previous business such as Zalando, Quandoo and Citydeal. The Berlin-based fund is investing into the most ambitious early-stage startups in Europe and is an early backer of European unicorns such as Flixbus and AUTO1. Khaled Helioui is an angel investor and an early backer of global giants Uber and Deliveroo.

"Hedvig has the chance to disrupt an old industry that refuses to evolve. Its unique approach is gaining first traction already and we know Lucas and his team have what it takes to accelerate growth at home in Sweden, in other markets and future products when the time is right," says Dames.

"Hedvig tackles an opaque and monolithic industry where consumers' trust has vanished due to administrative hurdles and questionable practices. This driven team has come up with an elegant model to expand access to insurance while prioritizing consumers' needs. I am confident in their success and in setting new standards for insurance at scale," says Helioui.

Hedvig raised its first seed round earlier this year from prominent Swedish angel investors Sophia Bendz, Spotify's former global marketing head, tycoon Sven Hagströmer, and Nicklas Storåkers, one of the country's best-known tech leaders and investors - all three also invested in Hedvig's latest funding round.

About Hedvig   
Started in 2016 and launched in May this year, Hedvig offers simple, fast and fair insurance for both rental and owned apartments, as well as insurance for travel and most gadgets and items from phones to bikes. It's a breeze to sign up, there's no fixed contract length and users pay a flat monthly fee depending on their needs. Hedvig takes a fixed 20% from the monthly payment and that's it. This allows us to focus on providing the best service possible to you and not on making more money from denying claims. You can report claims directly on the app thanks to our use of artificial intelligence and if there's money leftover in the claims pool at the end of the year we donate it to charities you choose. Learn more at Hedvig.com and contact us at press@hedvig.com or +46-730-48-22-26.