Germany-based online insurance portal Wefox has begun discussions with prospective investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank for a nine-figure euro round (€100m = $116m), Reuters reported yesterday.
One source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that SoftBank is set to lead the round, acquiring a “substantial stake” in the process, while two others said other potential backers are angling to take the lead position, without providing details of their identity.
A source said: “There are multiple bidding groups…basically, everything is sorted already. It is just the final people and pieces that need to come together.”
Founded in 2014 as FinanceFox, Wefox operates an online platform that allows users to combine all their insurance contracts in a single place where they can be reviewed, added to or cancelled quickly and easily.
The platform also offers a personal assistant to help users find the right mix of cover for their individual needs. Wefox is present in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and plans to expand into Spain later this year followed by five more European countries in the next eight months.
Wefox had raised $33.5m across two rounds when it received a seven-figure euro amount from venture capital firm Sound Ventures in January this year.
Salesforce Ventures, enterprise software producer Salesforce’s investment arm, led the company’s $5.5m seed round in early 2016, investing together with Idinvest Partners, AngelList, Seedcamp and Speedinvest.
The company secured another $28m in a September 2016 series A round co-led by Target Global and Horizons Ventures and backed by Salesforce Ventures, Idinvest, Speedinvest, Seedcamp, AngelList and Victory Park Capital.
SoftBank’s interest follows the collapse in May this year of a transaction that would have involved its Vision Fund paying between $8bn and $10bn for a minority stake in Switzerland-based reinsurance firm SwissRe.
The corporate has however invested in online insurance platforms Lemonade and PolicyBazaar in the past year and provided funding for two offshoots of insurance group Ping An: Ping An Good Doctor and Ping An Healthcare Technology.