Online insurer Lemonade raises $319M in New York IPO

New York-based startup Lemonade has undertaken an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange and attracted $319 million on the first day. The company sold 11 million shares at $29 per share and was valued at $1.6 billion, reports Reuters.

Founded in 2015 by Israeli entrepreneurs Shai Wininger and Daniel Schreiber, Lemonade is a licensed in 40 US states insurance company that offers homeowners and renters insurance. The company uses artificial intelligence and behavioural economics to set rates for the homes and renters it insures. Unlike the traditional insurance model, Lemonade donates underwriting profits to nonprofits selected by its community. 

Without any brokers and bureaucracy, the company declares the possibility to register insurance in 90 seconds and to claim insurance payment – in 3 minutes with the help of AI bot Maya.

According to the IT Business Week media, the company has previously attracted $480 million of venture funding from Allianz, Google Ventures, SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Aleph, Expansion VC, GV, OurCrowd, Thrive Capital, Tusk Capital and XL Innovate.