Wefox sees valuation jump 50% to $4.5B in funding round

Wefox, an insurance-technology firm founded by former Groupon Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG staff, raised $400 million in a funding round that values the company at $4.5 billion.

That’s a 50% boost from a previous round a year ago when it was valued at $3 billion, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Mubadala Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund, led the round. 

The funds will be put toward expanding into new markets — including the Netherlands, France, Spain and the UK — and building out the platform, Wefox said. They’ll also give the company an opportunity to add employees, targeting those that competitors have let go in a recent round of layoffs in Europe’s tech sector. 

“We are seeing a lot more, high-quality profiles available now,”  Wefox Chief Executive Officer Julian Teicke said in an interview. “The crisis gives us many opportunities that weren’t there beforehand.” 

Berlin-based Wefox is planning to add 700 employees by the end of the year. 

Teicke, a former Groupon sales manager, started the business in 2015 alongside Fabian Wesemann, a former Deutsche Bank analyst, and investor Dario Fazlic. The startup provides insurance products for users in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Poland. 

The company provides car, household, liability and health insurance products and is looking to expand into accident, building and e-bike insurance this year.