Kin Insurance, an InsurTech startup focused on home insurance in catastrophe-prone regions, said it has raised $47 million in new venture financing to fuel expansion and a revamped business model.

August Capital led the new financing round, which included contributions from new investors such as Avanta, Hudson Structured Capital Management (HSCM Bermuda, UChicago Startup Investment Program and others.

The funding will help launch the Kin Interinsurance Network, a Florida home insurance carrier. Chicago, Illinois-based Kin said that the carrier is structured as a reciprocal insurance exchange so policyholders can have a voice in operations. As well, Kin will have more flexibility to innovate in customer-friendly ways and keep costs low, the company asserts.

Kin, started in 2016 by financial tech entrepreneurs Sean Harper and Lucas Ward, began as a technology-driven home insurance carrier in Florida focused on customers with catastrophe coverage needs. Becoming a carrier starting in Florida, is a move designed to reach customers that Kin says insurers often neglect. Plans call for expanding as a carrier to other states in the future.

At the same time, Kin continues as a managing general agent and brokerage in Texas, Georgia and Alabama.

The company bills itself as working with customers using “intuitive tech, affordable pricing and world-class customer service.” Kin said it can recommend appropriate, affordable homeowners coverage by “leveraging thousands of publicly available data points.”

Ward, who is also Kin’s chief technology officer, said in prepared remarks that the company’s “approach in totality” is unique, thanks to Kin building its own policy administration system, combined with operating as a direct writer serving a catastrophe-prone state that also has catastrophe modeling and heavy pricing experience.

Source: Kin Insurance