A year after raising its first funding of €5 million, Paris-based insurtech startup Orus has closed €11 million in Series A funding. The investment round was led by European VCs Notion Capital and VR Ventures/Redstone, with participation from previous investors Frst, Partech, and Portage.
The round also saw contributions from several senior business angels from across the insurance space, including Thierry Daucourt (Axa), Grégoire Rastoul (Leocare), et Albert Malagarriga Fandos (Elma).
Ambitious plans to shape up industry
The Orus team comprises 25 employees and the company plans to double its workforce in the coming year. Currently, it is looking for tech, data, and insurance hires to launch new offerings, improve the subscription experience, and support professionals in risk prevention.
Besides this, the startup also plans to expand its offering in the coming months to provide decennial insurance, self-employed health insurance, and workers’ compensation. By offering a complete range of products to policyholders, the company can support all their insurance needs.
With support from international funds, Orus is signalling its intention to continue shaping the professional insurance market on a European scale and is planning to expand into a new territory in 2024.
Côme Dartiguenave, Co-founder and CEO, Orus said: “We are extremely proud to announce this funding round with Notion, VR Ventures/Redstone, with the participation of Partech, Frst, and Portage. It is a great sign of trust in our execution and in our vision to better protect SMBs. This funding round will allow us to expand our team with industry experts, to continue to develop our product, and to empower our distribution channels to build a European leader.”
Alison Imbert, Principal, Partech added: “We don’t fund projects, but teams. This is where Orus stands out with a concentration of talent, an excellent execution and an obsession with customer satisfaction making it for us the best company to quickly conquer the European market.”
Itxaso del Palacio, General Partner, Notion added: “At present, insurance products are mainly designed for large corporations and don’t satisfy the needs of the SMBs. Orus is providing a new generation of insurance solutions that are modular and can be purchased in real-time, allowing small-business owners to build and pay only for the policies they need. The team has a clear understanding of the distribution channels, and we believe they are well positioned to grow into new European markets with this funding round.”
Timo Fleig, General Partner, VR Ventures/Redstone noted: “The professional insurance market in Europe is of considerable magnitude, and there is still a lot to be done to tap into its potential. We are impressed by Orus’s growth in the French market in just one year, and we are convinced that they are the most competent team to effectively conquer the European markets in the years to come.”
Online insurance products for businesses
While the consumer insurtech market was relatively straightforward, the needs of business were complicated by both the variety of companies and sectors they needed to serve. Given that SMEs account for a significant portion of the economy and employment of any company, offering insurtech products dedicated to their needs is important.
To address this need, Côme Dartiguenave and Tom Le Bras who worked at Partech alongside Samuel Rossille co-founded Orus in 2021. It offers a comprehensive range of tailored online insurance products. Its suite of products include general liability, business owners’ policy, decennial liability insurance, workers’ compensation, and health insurance.
Their first was aimed at the restaurant sector. Partnering with the insurer Wakam, they offer an online product that can be purchased in just five minutes. Tested and highly praised by its first target group, the insurtech quickly expanded its offering to freelancers, retailers, as well as SMBs in general. Currently, Orus offers tailored policies for thousands of professions. Now, the company has a portfolio of over 5,000 clients, and is already the highest-rated professional insurtech in France by its policyholders.
