Jul 21, 2020 - Economy & Business

$150 million fundraising round by Hippo reflects changing housing market

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Hippo, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based home insurance startup, raised $150 million in Series E funding at a $1.5 billion valuation.

Why it matters: This reflects rising home sales, falling mortgage rates, and the highly successful IPO and aftermarket performance of rival Lemonade.

  • New investors Dragoneer, Ribbit Capital, FinTLV, and Innovius Capital were joined by return backers Felicis Ventures and Iconiq Capital.
  • Hippo has now raised around $310 million in total funding, including a Series D round last July at a $1 billion valuation.

The bottom line: "Hippo sells policies in 29 states, after working to get regulatory approval from those state insurance watchdogs. It struck a deal in June to buy Spinnaker Insurance Co., giving it an insurance carrier while still allowing it to have a portion of its premiums underwritten by other insurance partners," Bloomberg notes.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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