Gig Worker Insurance Startup Zego Raises $42M

Zego, a London-based startup that provides insurance for gig workers, has raised $42 million in a Series B funding round, according to reports.

The round was led by a firm called Target Global, which specializes in FinTech and mobility, while TransferWise founder Taavet Hinrikus contributed as well. The capital will be used for expansion and to grow the company’s workforce throughout the continent from 75 to 150.

Zego previously raised £6 million in a Series A funding round that was led by Balderton Capital. The company’s first products were pay-as-you-go car and scooter insurance for food delivery workers.

Zego has experienced 900 percent growth over the past year, and it has raised a total of $51 million, with new investor Latitude joining older backers Tom Stafford from DST Global and Balderton Capital.

Zego handles ride-hailing, ridesharing, scooter sharing and car rentals, and it has policies that go from minute-to-minute insurance all the way to annual coverage. It provides more flexibility than regular insurers and it has a pricing model based on amount of usage from vehicles.

The company has become a favorite of scooter, car, taxi and van delivery drivers. In fact, it insures about one third of all of the U.K.’s food delivery market, mostly through its partnerships with Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo.

The co-founder of the company, Sten Saar, said that the world of insurance is changing and he wants his company to be at the forefront.

“When we built Zego from scratch three years ago, our mission was to transform the insurance sector by creating products which truly reflected the rapidly changing world of transport … The world is becoming more urbanized, and because of this, we are moving from traditional ownership of vehicles to shared ‘usership.’ This means that the rigid model of insurance that has existed for hundreds of years is no longer fit for purpose.”