Zego, the London-based mobility insurance provider and the first UK insurtech to be awarded an insurance license, has acquired telematics company, Drivit.

The deal, which will enable Zego to collect real-time driver behavior data in-house, signals the company’s intent to use data to revolutionize how commercial motor insurance policies are priced.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Portugal-based Drivit has been a long-term partner to Zego, and was selected over many of its competitors after rigorous market research, analysis and testing, said Zego in a statement.

The Drivit team will now be fully incorporated into Zego, and its market-leading technology is already embedded into the Zego Sense app – the app-based telematics solution recently launched by Zego.

Zego said it will use this acquisition as a springboard to scale and expand into new products, markets, and territories faster than it ever has done before.

Overall, Zego collects five times more data per vehicle than its competitors, the insurtech said, noting that the addition of Drivit’s telematics technology will help it expand its understanding of driver data and risk.

“At Zego, we want to revolutionize the way that commercial motor insurance is priced, and I believe that this acquisition is an important step towards achieving this goal,” said Sten Saar, CEO and co-founder of Zego.

“Owning a market-leading telematics solution gives us the ability to not only collect real-time behavioral data, but also crucially to layer this information on top of our other existing data sources,” Saar added. “A data-centric approach is key to Zego’s strategy going forward and the acquisition of a pioneering telematics company like Drivit will help us to lay the foundation for future innovation and disruption in the industry.”

“Drivit was created to untangle the constraints of existing telematics technologies, helping car insurers to develop a new breadth of products and services that use driving behavior and contextual data to cater to the specific needs of each driver,” explained Gonçalo Farinha, co-founder of Drivit.

“We are embarking on this journey with Zego, not only because its mission perfectly aligns with the role we envisioned for Drivit in the world, but also because it is uniquely positioned to dramatically accelerate this shared vision into becoming a reality,” Farinha continued.

Drivit’s driving analytics product is designed to give any smartphone app the ability to automatically analyze driving behaviors, enabling services that foster a safer and more sustainable mobility. It helps insurers to educate and reward drivers who drive safely, and is also intended to enable a new generation of mobility products and services, tailored to the profile of each driver, with the aim to help them save time and money, according to the company.

Source: Zego

*This story ran previously in our sister publication Inurance Journal.