Bicycle insurance company Laka receives investment from Porsche Ventures

Laka has secured additional funding from Porsche Ventures, the venture capital unit of Porsche AG.

This brings its Series A, led by Autotech Ventures and followed by Ponooc, a Dutch sustainable mobility investor with close ties to Pon, and ABN AMRO, to $13.5 million.

Laka said it will use the new capital and network opportunities to facilitate its European expansion. The company will expand its product offering to e-scooters, e-mopeds and, eventually, e-cars to better serve Europe-wide partnerships including manufacturers, retailers and leasing businesses.

Patrick Huke, head of Porsche Ventures, Europe and Israel, said:“The increasing digitization and variety of sustainable mobility offers leads to the need for an innovative and customer-centric offer in the field of digital insurance.

“With the investment in Laka, we are pleased to support a strong team that is addressing the global insurance market with a unique, highly adaptable and digital business model, which focuses above all on the customer experience.”

Laka will be exploring opportunities with the Porsche Ventures portfolio to build the backbone to support the e-mobility segment, initially partnering with German cycling brand Cyklaer to offer new and existing customers built-in digital insurance products.

Cyklaer will be joining Laka’s partners which include Decathlon, Raleigh and Le Col, as well as Santander Consumer Finance and Monzo. The partnerships enable the brands to provide end-to-end digital experiences by immediately protecting their customers from theft and damage at the point of sale.

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Tobias Taupitz, CEO and co-founder of Laka, said: “2021 truly depicted an inflection point for Laka as we moved from a pure direct-to-consumer play towards retail and commercial partnerships.

“E-mobility is redefining transport globally, and Laka has set out to build the backbone to support the e-mobility segment at a time when “Net Zero Emissions” has rightly become front of mind for consumers, businesses and government policy. To support this shift towards a greener future, we have a bold vision to become the world’s largest e-mobility insurance partner.”

Porsche Ventures joined the existing investor list including Autotech Ventures, Ponooc, ABN AMRO Ventures, Creandum, LocalGlobe, 1818 Ventures and Elkstone Partners.