Travel insurtech Faye lands $10m in Series A funding
Israel / US: Travel insurance startup Faye has announced that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding, just a year after launching its product in the United States, bringing the company’s total funding to date to $18 million.
The round was led by Munich Re Ventures along with existing investors Viola Ventures and F2 Venture Capital. Additional investors include Menora Tech and Mike Nelson, former CEO of Global Travel Insurance at Allianz.
Faye’s proactive and holistic travel insurance product is designed to deliver unmatched value for travellers embarking from the United States, and the company expects to quadruple its revenue in 2023 alone, having earned millions in premiums in its first year in the market. The company also plans to more than double its pool of travel advisers and distribution partners, which is already in the hundreds.
The funding news comes shortly after the company launched its Travel Advisor Portal, a one-stop-shop where travel advisers and agencies can offer, learn about and manage travel insurance with Faye.
In addition, the startup released a newly-developed API to enable seamless integration with travel distributors who wish to offer a new level of travel protection to their customers, fully embedded into their offerings.
Faye co-founder and CEO, Elad Schaffer, said: “Faye fundamentally views travel insurance differently. Until Faye, travel insurance was often thought of as a reimbursement service. Faye’s approach combines travel insurance with real-time assistance, trip alerts, a 24/7 concierge and even financial support.
“Our role is to help ensure that you have a smooth adventure that’s memorable for the right reasons. We’ve built an offering that travelers will want to use for life, so bringing Faye along is just as obvious as bringing your passport. This approach is working: we continue to see rapid growth in travellers using Faye, and coming back for more – month over month,” added Schaffer.
The boom in travel insurance purchases across the industry is set to support a busy season of summer travel. Faye said that it is anticipating continued consumer frustration – from crowded airports to staff shortages – and thus an increase in trip protection purchases and reliance on providers that go the distance to offer both insurance and around-the-clock assistance.
Sidra Ahmed, investment director at Munich Re Ventures, who will also join Faye’s board of directors, said: “With the end consumer in mind, Faye provides transparent, digitally-integrated comprehensive coverage, and a real-time approach to managing the many potential hiccups that can happen on a trip. Faye has successfully married the worlds of travel, insurtech and fintech to seamlessly enable consumers to protect their travel investments.
“We are excited to join the Faye team on their journey [pun intended],” added Ahmed.
Mike Nelson, former CEO, Global Travel Insurance at Allianz, said: “Travel insurance is a fast-growing industry with evolving needs in the areas of customer experience, product relevance and digital innovation. The team at Faye has impressed me with their vision and accomplishments and has already attracted enormous interest from partners and travel distributors, just one year in the market, and amid economic uncertainty; that’s no easy feat.
“It was a no-brainer to deepen my support of this top-notch team and product, going from adviser to both adviser and investor,” he added. .
Since its initial launch, Faye has made additional enhancements to its offering, including releasing new coverage add-ons such as adventure and extreme sports and vacation rental damage protection. Now available in 48 states, including New York, California, Florida and Texas, Faye says that it is planning to be available soon nationwide across the United States.
Faye is the second startup founded by serial entrepreneurs and travel enthusiasts, Elad Schaffer [CEO] and Daniel Green [CTO]. In the coming months, the duo plan to use the capital injection to fuel growth, develop new insurance offerings, support scale through automation and seamless integrations, and forge new partnerships with top brands and distribution partners.
The startup’s robust protection is set up to cover travellers’ flights, accommodation, health [including [pre-existing conditions], luggage, and their pets – all via an app on iOS or Android that sends real-time proactive alerts, provides 24/7 access to customer experience specialists, enables users to file claims digitally, and quickly pays for approved claims via electronic transfers to Faye Wallet, its digital debit card that can be added to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
Through Faye Wallet, travellers can also receive speedy reimbursements for travel inconveniences [such as delayed bags and flights] and instantly use funds to purchase what they need most rather than paying out of pocket.
