November seems to have regained the cruising pace of 2023. Indeed, with 7 deals announced, it is just above the monthly average of the number of publicly disclosed raises since the beginning of the year.This follows, you may recall, the particularly active month of October, which saw 9 deals announced. For once, it was above the monthly average of the past two years (2021, 2022), which stood at 8 deals.While the volume of deals has nothing particularly specific, the total amount invested is €89 million, placing November in the top third of the ranking compared to previous months of the year.
But beware, as one deal concentrates the majority of the euros invested in the ecosystem. Once again, Wefox announced a €50 million round. Once again, the round was carried out in convertible notes - meaning, to simplify, that the sum is lent to the startup and that at the end of a given period, it will either be repaid (like a conventional loan, ultimately) or - and this is more the idea - converted into shares during a future capital increase, which will define the company's value, its valuation. The holder of convertible notes usually benefits from a discount on this valuation, to take into account the fact that their money has been contributed several months before the actual fundraising.
And when I say "once again," it's because, if you remember, Wefox had already announced similar rounds - both in terms of amount and format - at the end of the first quarter and the third quarter of this year. In total, Wefox has raised approximately €150 million in 2023, making it obviously the largest funding round of the year - to date.
To put this into perspective, it is worth noting that this total amount is higher than the sum of the three largest InsurTech deals announced in England this year. And even worse: Wefox alone has raised more money than all the French insurtechs since the beginning of the year!
However, it is worth noting the arrival of two new players on the scene during this third bridge of the year: Deutsche Bank and UniCredit. Two traditional players in financial services.
It remains to be seen if the startup will continue at this pace of almost €50 million every quarter…Also, note the round announced by Lassie. As a reminder, this is a startup focused on pet insurance (dogs/cats). It is based in Sweden and operates on a direct distribution model, online, which is not favored by investors at the moment, as you know. And yet, it announced a $25 million round, carried out notably with Balderton making its entrance to the table! On this occasion, the startup announced having sold 60,000 policies since its launch. This is 6 times more than what it announced 18 months ago, during its previous funding round. And it immediately positions the startup in the top B2C raises on the European scene, just behind Hedvig, also based in Sweden!For other B2C startups, times are more challenging, and we have an example with Flitter. This is a French startup reimagining pay-per-mile auto insurance by offering a 100% digital experience. It raised €3.5 million from Swiss insurer Helvetia, through its corporate VC branch. This amount should allow it to accelerate its commercial development. For this occasion, it announced already covering 30,000 clients.
I find this comparison very interesting to gauge the market turnaround for B2C startups. Indeed, you may remember that 18-24 months ago, other well-known B2C insurtechs were raising in France, rounds of about €15 million each, for 20,000 policies sold, according to the announcements they made at the time. Here, it's €3.5 million for 30,000 policies sold. I'll do the math for you: we have 4 times less money for 50% more policies... The comparison is painful, and the gap with Lassie's round is impressive!
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