Zego, the insurance provider for delivery drivers, has raised £6m of Series A funding

Zego, a pay-as-you-go insurance provider for delivery drivers, has raised £6m in a Series A funding round led by Balderton Capital – which also included existing backer LocalGlobe and a range of angel investors from the insurance sector.

Balderton partner Rob Moffat will now take a seat on the board at Zego – who have increased its employee headcount from 7 to 33 since the start of 2017.

The London-based start-up will use the fresh injection of cash to hire more specialists for its engineering team, as well as staff to build key business functions.

While its also “on the verge” of launching a suite of insurance products for self-employed people, and looking to expand internationally in the next six months.

Aiming to help businesses that operate in the gig economy attract more couriers by proving them with flexible and cheap insurance for their bikes, Zego’s app is currently used by scouter drivers for the likes of  Deliveroo, UberEats, Amazon, and Quiqup.

Fees for the scooter policy start from 55p an hour up to £25 a week, while insuring a car can cost as little as £1 an hour – with drivers able to top up their account like a pay-as-you-go mobile.

Accounts are debited after a shift is worked, with Zego claiming approved drivers can get covered “in minutes”.

Last week, a landmark legal victory for Deliveroo against its drivers saw its fleet of 27,000 riders become officially classified as self-employed – increasing the need for drivers to sort out their own insurance.

Co-founded by Harry Franks, Stuart Kelly, and Sten Saar, the trio have a wealth of experience in the start-up scene – particularly the gig economy.

Both Franks and Saar  previously worked for food delivery giant and Startups 100-ranked Deliveroo and Young Gun-founded onefinestay, while Kelly worked as head of engineering at Startups 100-listed Hubble.

Back in July, Zego raised £1.225m in seed funding in a round led by LocalGlobe.

Harry Franks, chief executive at Zego, said:

“Zego provides hardworking drivers with the tools to make gig economy jobs work for them. Before we came along drivers who wanted to work flexibly and part-time were ill-served by the insurance industry and were forced to pay for insurance cover they did not use.

“We’re delighted that Balderton wants to work with us as we develop pay-as-you-go policies for the fast-growing numbers of self-employed and sharing economy workers.”

Rob Moffat, partner at Balderton Capital, said:

“At Balderton we have been looking in depth at tech companies in insurance over the last few years. Zego really stood out with their innovative insurance products solving a major problem for drivers.

“They are in a new and fast evolving market that traditional insurers find it hard to adapt to. We were blown away by the execution speed of Harry, Sten, Stu and team and their ambitious plan to offer a wider suite of insurance products that resolve many of the problems gig economy workers face.”

Suzanne Ashman, partner at LocalGlobe, said:

“We love the work that the Zego team has done to re-think insurance for an important and growing part of the economy. We’re very excited that Balderton is supporting the company through their next phase of growth.”