British insurtech firm Bought By Many in July 2018 raised £15 million (approximately USD 20 million) when insurance broker Marsh announced it was investing in the peer-to-peer insurtech startup firm.

Bought by Many’s concept is bringing together groups of insurance buyers via its online platform and getting better terms and/or perks from insurance carriers for these blocks of clients. To date, the website offers standardized coverage for individuals, sole traders, or very small businesses. Examples include “Life Insurance for Young Professionals”, “Health Insurance for Over 50s”, “Income Protection for Single Mums”, etc.

Judging from the website, Bought by Many’s selling point is about customers joining forces to “access unique [insurance] policies that fix the things people hate about insurance”. Ease of use and a sense of belonging to a group are given more prominence than price or coverage. As of July 30, 2018, the website claims to have 546,515 members in 317 groups.

The platform employs more than 90 staff members across its sites in London and Sussex, recently welcoming John Pearson, the former Virgin Radio boss and chairman of music app Shazam, as its new chairman in March this year.

Some of the coverage on offer is in the Life/Health segment:

• Travel Insurance
• Health Insurance (individual)

but most is on the P/C side:

• Business & Professional Insurance (liability)
• Car, Van & Bike Insurance
• Home Insurance
• Pet Insurance
• Phone, Gadget & Item Insurance
• Sports & Leisure Insurance

This latest round of funding was led by CommerzVentures, the corporate venture capital arm of Commerzbank.  Commerzventures’ Paul Morgenthaler will join Bought By Many’s board as part of the deal, as it seeks to use the new funding to launch in new territories in the year ahead.

Other backers included Munich Re/HSB Ventures, Octopus Ventures, and angel investor Evelyn Bourke. Coupled with a successful £7.5 million Series A funding in October 2016, the startup has now raised a total of £22.5m to date.