InsurTech Marshmallow becomes the UK’s latest tech unicorn

By Joy Dumasia

Marshmallow, a licensed insurance carrier offering customers fairer, faster and cheaper insurance through its sophisticated use of technology, data, and AI, announces it has raised a further $85m. High profile backers include Passion Capital, Investec and Scor. The successful raise values Marshmallow at $1.25bn, making it the second UK unicorn to be founded by people of black heritage.

Marshmallow’s Series B raise closely follows its Series A round, which closed in November 2020 and secured the company $30m in funding. The company has raised a total of $120m since it was founded.

Established in 2017 by identical twins Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham and David Goaté, Marshmallow’s founding purpose was to modernise the insurance industry to use data to provide more affordable insurance to customers who fall outside the typical “good risk” profile.

The business’ innovative use of technology, big data and artificial intelligence has enabled it to grow into a serious challenger brand that aims to be one of the largest players in the insurance industry. It is just two UK ‘insurtechs’ to have secured an insurance licence, allowing it complete flexibility from quote to claim.

Oliver Kent-Braham, Co-Founder and CEO of Marshmallow, said: “Customers are voting with their feet – and they clearly want a modern insurance offering. We’ve only just scratched the surface of disrupting a market worth $5trn globally, and there’s so much more we’re planning to do in the coming years. We look forward to building more products that help people in their time of need.”

Eileen Burbidge, Partner at Passion Capital, commented: “The traction the team has achieved demonstrates the demand for a new kind of insurance provider, one that focuses more on consumer experience and uses the latest technology and data to give fair prices. We’ve been proud to support the team’s ambitions since the start and now look forward to its next chapter in Europe as it continues its mission to change the industry for the better.”