July has been particularly quiet this year. Only three deals have been announced, compared to the eight to eleven deals publicly disclosed in July over the past three years. This trend made sense, as deals initiated in the first half of the year often concluded just before the summer break. This year, however, is different, as the number of deals is the lowest since the beginning of the year. The same is true for the total investment amounts, with only €8 million invested. Notably, all three deals involved existing investors, reinforcing the rather uninspiring dynamics of this first summer month.
In summary, three deals were announced, with €8 million invested. That's the key takeaway regarding the numbers.
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Let's start with Kenko, a French startup, which announced an extension of its initial funding round with an additional €1.2 million. As mentioned earlier, this round involved existing investors, specifically business angels in the insurance sector. The startup aims to continue developing its health insurance offering. Positioned as an insurance broker, Kenko also provides services to employees, complementing traditional health and welfare offerings. The team now has 28 employees listed on LinkedIn, a 33% increase over the past year.
The second most significant round of the month was announced by Enzo, a German startup specializing in home insurance. It raised an additional €2.3 million from its historical shareholders. For context, it had raised €1 million in May 2022. Beyond the capital dynamics, it is noteworthy that the company emphasized the use of connected devices and IoT for home prevention in its press release. The homepage of its website is now entirely dedicated to this topic, highlighting its value proposition: "we protect you from water damage," as quoted. This is reminiscent of Luko, a French startup that also emphasized connected devices shortly after its launch in 2018, working on several to enhance its home insurance offering. If you want to learn more about this startup, I invite you to listen to the two-part podcast I dedicated to it following its acquisition a few months ago. Returning to Enzo, it's interesting to observe the evolution of its team. The company now has 28 employees listed on LinkedIn, but the growth occurred in successive waves. A year ago, the team had 25 employees according to LinkedIn, compared to only 19 at the beginning of the year. This indicates a decrease of nearly a quarter of the workforce in the second half of last year, followed by a 47% increase in the first half of this year.
Lastly, the Italian startup Wopta announced the largest funding round in the European InsurTech scene this month. With €4.1 million, it's slightly more than the initial round announced by the company two years ago in June 2022, shortly after its launch, which was €3.4 million. The company plans to continue developing its offering for SMEs and craftsmen, along with welfare products for executives, using its MGA insurance distribution model. The round was completed with the participation of Italian business angels and family offices. The startup shared some figures with this funding announcement: it has generated €3 million in premiums since its launch and covers 180,000 clients through 1,000 distribution partners, in addition to direct distribution on its website. This positive commercial momentum is reflected in the growth of its team, which now has 24 employees according to LinkedIn, a 41% increase over the past year.
