London-based Zego targets £20bn+ European fleet insurance market with overseas launches

Zego is launching in the Netherlands and beefing up its operations in France as it looks to advance its overseas operations.

Zego, which became the UK's first insurtech unicorn last year, is to launch in the Netherlands and bulk up its operations in France.

London-based Zego achieved unicorn status last year, after bagging a $150m Series C funding round, valuing the fintech at $1.1bn.

Zego, founded in 2016, now wants to deepen its presence in overseas markets and is honing in on the £20bn plus European fleet insurance market.

The insurtech, which provides commercial motor insurance for self-employed drivers and riders as well as businesses with entire fleets of vehicles, currently operates in seven countries.

It combines tech with multiple data sources to offer insurance products that it claims saves time and are more cost-effective.

It offers pay-as-you-go plans and annual policies and has dished out millions of policies.

Its launch in the Netherlands comes amid consolidation in the Dutch market, with a nine per cent reduction in the number of insurers in the market between 2019 and 2020.

Zego also believes its tech-led propositions will bear fruit in the Dutch market amid Dutch businesses facing rising fuel, wage and maintenance costs. Likewise, it thinks it can be a serious disruptor in the French market.

The insurtech, which started out offering flexible motorbike insurance for gig economy workers, was set up by a pair of ex-Deliveroo directors. 

Sten Saar, CEO of Zego, said: "Commercial vehicles now account for over 13% of the vehicles on our roads, the highest proportion ever recorded, and this number is rising, as technology continues to decentralise our shopping and travel habits. 

"For the people and businesses managing these fleets, flexibility and control are both highly sought after, but driver behaviour remains a huge variable that is notoriously difficult to influence.

"Telematics and data science have proven that they can improve driving behaviour, and when combined with a financial incentive, they have great potential to make fleets safer and cheaper to run.

"At Zego we are using this data to understand risk better than traditional insurers and other insurtechs, so we can offer more accurate pricing and more control; both of which have halo effects that improve life for everyone."