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Laka has raised a $12 million Series A round.
The round was led by US mobility investor Autotech Ventures with participation from sustainable mobility and energy fund Ponooc, a Dutch sustainable mobility investor with close ties to Pon, alongside ABN AMRO Ventures of European bank ABN AMRO. Existing investors including Creandum, LocalGlobe, 1818 Ventures and Elkstone Partners followed on. Angel investment came from Zwift CEO and co-founder Eric Min.
Laka will use the new capital to expand across Europe, launching in Belgium, France and Germany in the first half of 2022 to service retail partners on the back of recently won partnerships including Randstad, Raleigh, Le Col and Decathlon.
Already insuring last-mile delivery companies including Zapp, Jiffy and Urb-it, Laka will now expand to cover commercial fleets Europe-wide.
“2021 truly depicted an inflection point for Laka as we moved from a pure direct-to-consumer play towards retail and commercial partnerships,” said Tobias Taupitz, CEO and co-founder of Laka.
“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.”
Laka 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.
To support rapid growth, Laka will double its remote-first workforce and provide collaboration hubs across Europe, scale its customer experience, place a heavy focus on introducing deeper API and e-commerce integration options and drive innovative pricing through its AI behavioural risk modelling capabilities.
Min said: “The shift to greener transport is happening fast, and it needs a forward-thinking and highly adaptable insurer to help power that change. That’s why I’m excited to be a part of Laka’s growth across Europe as they leverage tech, data and their in-house claims expertise to lead in the e-mobility insurance space with their unique model.”
Burak Cendek, partner at Autotech Ventures, said: “Autotech Ventures is truly excited to partner with the Laka team. As a transportation focused fund, we’ve been witnessing the explosive growth in personal ownership of two wheelers – especially in light of the pandemic – as well as increased business use cases within logistics. Not only is Laka’s innovative product line answering unmet needs of the market but we believe that Laka has the potential to transform the insurance industry as a whole.”
Rui Li, investment manager at Ponooc, said: “Our reason to support LAKA is obvious. As an investor specialised in sustainable mobility we see the large and fast growing need for a customer centric, transparent and digital mobility insurance proposition.
“We are convinced that insurtech will play an important role in accelerating the adoption of sustainable mobility. In this space LAKA offers an exceptional proposition for both the B2B and B2C market. Ponooc welcomes Laka and its highly talented team to its family, and is thrilled to be part of its growth journey.”
Read more: Whyte Bikes appoints Ed Culley as CEO and Christina Sartori as CMO
Hugo Bongers, managing director at ABN AMRO Ventures, said: “ABN AMRO Ventures is thoroughly excited to support Laka in its journey to become Europe’s leading green mobility insurtech. We look forward to partnering with Laka’s outstanding management team and the other investors involved to drive a big outcome together.
“Our investment in Laka fits perfectly with ABN AMRO’s ambition to excel in providing our customers with best in class digital services and help them in their transition to a more sustainable living.”
