{"id":121074,"date":"2021-09-08T13:26:37","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T13:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=121074"},"modified":"2021-09-08T13:26:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T13:26:37","slug":"motor-insurer-marshmallow-becomes-one-of-first-black-founded-uk-unicorns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/motor-insurer-marshmallow-becomes-one-of-first-black-founded-uk-unicorns\/","title":{"rendered":"Motor insurer Marshmallow becomes one of first Black-founded UK unicorns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(Company corrects claim in headline, paragraph 1 that it was the first Black-founded UK unicorn)<\/p><figcaption>Imported cars are parked in a storage area at Sheerness port, Sheerness, Britain, October 24, 2017.    REUTERS\/Peter Nicholls<\/figcaption><p>LONDON (Reuters) -Digital motor insurer Marshmallow has raised $85 million from investors, valuing it at more than $1.25 billion and making it one of the first British Black-founded unicorns, the company said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The early-stage funding round was backed by venture capital firm Passion Capital, Investec Bank and reinsurer SCOR, Marshmallow said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The tech-focused insurer will use the funding to expand into overseas markets and into other types of insurance beyond the motor segment, Chief Executive Oliver Kent-Braham told Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking across to Europe now, that\u2019s a huge market to go after. In the UK, we are looking at other personal lines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Insurtech, a fast-growing segment of the financial technology, or fintech, industry, has benefited from investor interest in startups, with the traditional insurance industry considered slow to change and to adopt technology.<\/p>\n<p>Global insurtech funding exploded to $7.4 billion in the first half, making 2021 a record funding year already by July, according to a report from insurance broker Willis Towers Watson.<\/p>\n<p>Motor insurers have benefited from the coronavirus pandemic, as fewer cars on the roads due to government lockdowns have led to fewer claims.<\/p>\n<p>Marshmallow was founded in 2017 by Kent-Braham, his twin brother Alexander Kent-Braham and David Goate.<\/p>\n<p>It has expanded its staff by more than 200% in the past year to around 170 people, and also plans to use its funding to hire 400 more over the next two years.<\/p>\n<p>Insurance and technology are both sectors often lacking in diversity, but Kent-Braham said the firm was close to 50:50 in terms of its male-female split, including female software engineers. Nearly 20% of employees were Black or from other ethnic minorities.<\/p>\n<p>Marshmallow underwrites its own insurance, and is facing legal action from its former underwriter Mulsanne. Kent-Braham said the case was ongoing, but that Marshmallow strongly refutes all the allegations.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s Series B funding round follows a $30 million Series A round in Nov 2020, which valued the company at $310 million. Passion Capital, Investec and SCOR are all existing investors in Marshmallow.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/marshmallow-fundraise\/corrected-motor-insurer-marshmallow-becomes-one-of-first-black-founded-uk-unicorns-idUSL8N2Q823N\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Company corrects claim in headline, paragraph 1 that it was the first Black-founded UK unicorn)Imported cars are parked in a storage area at Sheerness port, [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":121073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Motor insurer Marshmallow becomes one of first Black-founded UK unicorns - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/motor-insurer-marshmallow-becomes-one-of-first-black-founded-uk-unicorns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Motor insurer Marshmallow becomes one of first Black-founded UK unicorns - 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