Home insurance startup Hippo raises $150M ahead of IPO

Low interest rates have propelled refinancings, CEO Assaf Wand said

Hippo CEO Assaf Wand (Getty)
Hippo CEO Assaf Wand (Getty)

Home insurance startup Hippo is hoping to ride the coattails of rival Lemonade with an initial public offering next year.

The Palo Alto, California-based startup said Tuesday it raised $150 million, valuing the company at $1.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. Dragoneer and Ribbit Capital participated in the round, alongside Felicis Ventures and Iconiq Capital. Hippo intends to go public next year.

The round brings Hippo’s total funding to $359 million since 2015. Previous investors include homebuilder Lennar and Fifth Wall. The company was started by Israeli entrepreneurs, CEO Assaf Wand and Eyal Navon.

Most recently valued at $1 billion, Hippo is on track to generate $100 million in revenue next year. Wand said the goal is to have a “clear path to profitability” by 2021 when Hippo will be “ready to go public.”

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Earlier this month, SoftBank-backed Lemonade saw its stock price triple on its first day of trading; the company’s valuation spiked to $3.8 billion from $2.1 billion.

Wand said thanks to low interest rates, business has been booming during Covid. “Because interest rates were so low, we see a surge of people that are refinancing their mortgage,” he said.  [Bloomberg] — E.B. Solomont

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