Digital insurer Lemonade Inc. announced a $120 million Series C funding round it will use to help accelerate a global expansion in 2018.

SoftBank Group led the round, joined by existing investors Aleph, Allianz, General Catalyst, GV (Google Ventures), Sequoia Capital, Sound Ventures, Thrive Capital, Tusk Ventures and XL Innovate. The SoftBank Group’s David Thevenon will join Lemonade’s board.

Lemonade is an insurance company run by artificial intelligence and behavioral economics.

“By combining big data and AI with a seamless user experience, Lemonade is truly revolutionizing the insurance industry,” said Thevenon, a senior investment professional within the SoftBank Group.

Last December, Lemonade announced a $34 million B round of funding. That round was led by General Catalyst with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures), Thrive Capital and Tusk Ventures, as well as existing investors Aleph, Sequoia and XL Innovate. That brought Lemonade’s total funding to $60 million.

Lemonade is a licensed as a property/casualty insurance carrier founded by tech veterans Shai Wininger and Daniel Schreiber. The company began offering homeowners and renters insurance in New York in late 2016. Lemonade is currently selling in eight states including California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas, and is licensed in 17 additional states.

“The insurance brands we know today came of age in the era of the horse-drawn carriage,” said Schreiber. “But insurance is best when powered by AI and behavioral economics, which is why we believe that companies built from scratch, on a digital substrate and with a social mission, will enjoy a structural advantage for decades to come.”

In October, Lemonade invited others to use its sales platform. It is making its application programming interface or API available to developers of commerce sites, real estate apps, financial advisers, bots, IoT and smart home products. Within the first day of its offer, Lemonade said more than 400 businesses applied for early access.

Source: Lemonade