New sales surge 150% for Bought by Many amid Covid-19 pandemic

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The insurtech will change its name for its Sweden territory only

Bought by Many has reported continued “substantial growth” with the volume of new sales surging over 150% in its financial results for the year ending 31 March 2020.

And its turnover almost tripled to £17m in 2020, up from £6m in 2019.

It now plans to expand its insurance business to new territories such as North America and mainland Europe following its growth in the UK and Sweden.

And it will also change is name in Sweden only to “Many Pets,” Luisa Barile, Bought by Many’s chief financial officer told Insurance Times, this is to make easier for customers in this territory.

The firm said that it “had not experienced any negative impact from Covid-19 on its commercial activities or operations to date, [but] it continues to monitor the market”.

It follows the insurtech reporting a rise in the uptake in pet insurance during lockdown.

International expansion

The insurtech sold £72.1m of Gross Written Premium (GWP) in the financial year 2019 ending in March 2020 – this amounted to growth of over 108% year-on-year.

Although Bought by Many revealed making a loss as it continues its international expansion, the loss for the year amounted to more than £15m. Whereas in 2019 this figure was more than £8m.

In its results the firm stated: “The investment in growth results in substantial capital requirements. The company completed its Series C funding in April 2020. Under the current growth plans, this investment is expected to provide a cash runway for at least the next two years.”

Barile added: “The reason for the loss is because we continue to invest a lot in our products. We continue to invest in innovation and geographical expansion.”

Bought by Many has tripled the size of its technology team in 18 months and it expects to hire between 50-75 more staff over the next six months.

Customer centric

Speaking about the Bought by Many’s proposition to customers, Barile said many referrals for new customers come from recommendations and social media.

She said that this comes from having a great product, putting the customer first and treating people with empathy and care.

Customer renewals remained high and the firm also designed a new product called ‘Essentials’ to help existing customers who were financially impacted by Covid-19 which was launched in just eight days.

However, Barile said that the firm has in fact seen the opposite happening during the pandemic with many customers upgrading to a higher level of cover.