Neos, a connected home insurance service, has raised over £1 million in seed funding from investors that primarily include Insurtech fund Eos Venture Partners. Other new investors included Barry Smith (former CEO of Ageas), Steve Broughton (former managing director of RSA Insurance) and Richard King (founder of ingenie).
These investors have also joined Neos as chairman, non-executive director and advisor respectively. Former England footballer and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker also took part in this round.
The service provided by the startup is an exceptionally unique take on Insurtech. It combines the latest smart technology, 24/7 monitoring and emergency assistance, alongside comprehensive home insurance, to create a new approach to insurance: one that enables consumers to actively protect their home and help prevent incidents.
The technology has been built in reaction to research showing that four million of Britain’s 27 million homeowners make a claim against their home insurance policy. Though 79% of claims are successful, this doesn’t stop damage to property, the loss of treasured possessions, or someone from experiencing an emotionally distressing situation that could have been prevented. It therefore alerts homeowners of a break-in, leak or fire and contacts the 24 hour monitoring team to send out the right tradespeople.
Commenting on their latest investment, Matt Poll, CEO of Neos says,
Chapter one of the Neos story reads very well: we’re first to market; in Hiscox we have one of the UK’s most prestigious insurers as a partner; we’ve built an incredibly strong management team and we now have the backing of some of the industry’s most respected experts. We’ve already had a fantastic customer response from our soft launch and can’t wait to open up the Neos experience to the wider market.
Barry Smith, chairman of Neos, is also thrilled to have joined the team at this early stage:
This is an exciting time for the home insurance market as we start to see new customer value propositions that embrace connected home technology.
The Neos app is currently available on Apple’s iOS app store, with an Android app to follow later this year.
