 TOP STORIES YOU MISSED | Featured Stories | | |   | Lemonade has filed to go public following last year’s postponement The US-based insurtech filed for an initial public offering (IPO) at a valuation of $2 billion on Monday, per Business Insider. Lemonade is a full-stack property and casualty (P&C) insurtech focused on homeowners and renters insurance. It harnesses technology to digitize insurance end-to-end and enhance the customer experience — for example, the insurtech utilizes its AI chatbots Maya and Jim to quickly incept personalized policies and expedite claims processing and payments, respectively. Lemonade is licensed to operate in 40 US states, as well as the Netherlands and Germany. The announcement of going public follows last year’s postponement of a planned IPO. Lemonade’s loss ratio was still well above the industry average, and its loss-making status raised doubts about whether a 2019 IPO would raise the funds that Lemonade was seeking. We think Lemonade’s IPO will be a success with regards to capital raised due to its attractive product offering, underscored by its revenue growth and improving margins. |
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| | |   | WAHED SECURES FUNDS TO EXPAND ISLAMIC FINANCE OFFERING The US-based digital Islamic investment platform has netted a $25 million funding round led by Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures, which included participation from existing investors BECO and CueBall Capital, per TechCrunch. Wahed’s robo-advisory platform offers an investment and savings account as well as a self-invested personal pension, and aims to simplify halal investing by determining whether companies are Sharia-compliant on behalf of its clients. Wahed has expanded its market presence to several locations, including the UK, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia, and indicated that it’ll use the fresh capital to make Saudi Arabia its regional MENA hub and fuel expansion into new Islamic markets, such as Nigeria and India. Wahed will likely enjoy long-term success because its niche offering can attract customers and drive revenue growth. As Wahed expands to countries with low levels of financial inclusion, such as Nigeria, where mobile ownership is soaring, it could enjoy strong adoption because its fintech services will be accessible to those excluded. |
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|   | XP Inc. has acquired a majority stake in open banking fintech Fliper Brazil-based financial services group and platform provider XP Inc. has acquired a majority stake in open banking fintech Fliper, per IBS Intelligence. XP Inc. has six separate companies in its financial services group, including its flagship investment manager XP Investimentos as well as its brokerage and financial education companies. Under the terms of the acquisition, Fliper will remain an independent entity. This acquisition is in line with the recent acceleration of open banking in Brazil. Acquiring Fliper will likely help XP Inc. enhance its financial services platform and boost its Net Promoter Score. We think this is a wise investment by XP Inc. and will ultimately help it improve its principal success metric: its Net Promoter Score, which is a measurement of customer experience and loyalty. |
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