PolicyGenius logo
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Industry | Insurance |
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Founded | 2014 |
Founders | Jennifer Fitzgerald, Francois de Lame |
Headquarters | New York City |
Area served
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United States |
Products | Life, Renters, Long-Term Disability, Pet |
Website | www |
PolicyGenius was founded in 2014 by two former McKinsey consultants, Jennifer Fitzgerald and Francois de Lame, who saw a gap and dissatisfaction in the insurance industry.
PolicyGenius clients have access to advice through the company's insurance quoting platform. The platform provides personalized quotes, as well as side-by-side comparison of insurance policies from dozens of the country's insurance providers.
According to a LIMRA report, 132 million Americans rely on life insurance to protect their financial security, but the country is still facing a $20 trillion life insurance gap due to four key issues: lack of insurance understanding, overestimating the cost of insurance, lack of access based on an aging broker workforce and lack of online tools and an economic shift to a freelance workforce. Adding to the issue the Federal Reserve found that 47% of households couldn't cover an emergency expense of $400. Additionally, 62% of all personal bankruptcies were attributed to medical costs according to a Harvard study. Although many of these financial hardships could have been avoided with proper insurance, only 44% of individual American households have life insurance.
Insurance tech companies have made a big splash for their efforts to disrupt the insurance industry recently. CB Insights claims insurance tech companies have raised $2.12B between 2010 and 2015 to tackle this issue.
PolicyGenius officially launched in July 2014 by co-founders Jennifer Fitzgerald and Francois de Lame. Leveraging their multi-product platform, consumers are able to review advice, research and compare quotes for life, long-term disability, renters and pet insurance.
As McKinsey consultants, Fitzgerald and de Lame advised insurance companies on growth and marketing. They quickly noticed a pattern: all of the companies struggled with how to engage online with self-directed consumers.
PolicyGenius was part of the FirstGrowth Winter 2013 batch. In July 2014, PolicyGenius announced the completion of a seed round with investors Brendan Wallace, Paul Arnold, and Pen King.
The company raised its Series A in June 2015, about a year after graduating FirstGrowth. The $5.3 million round included investments from Karlin Ventures, Susa Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Transamerica Ventures and AXA Strategic Ventures. The round was aimed to expand marketing efforts and target new channels.