In order to launch its hybrid insurance and cybersecurity product in European SME markets, Paris-based cybersecurity insurtech Stoïk secured €11M in a Series A round that was co-led by American investment juggernaut Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
The company anticipates hiring across its sales, cyber, marketing, and product teams to roughly double over the coming year. By bringing on the top partners and employees in the insurance industry, the firm will also keep growing its knowledge in insurance.
Along with current investors Alven and Anthemis Group, the Series A is being funded by a16z and business angels including former AXA CEO Henri De Castries and wefox CEO Julian Teicke.
Stoïk, a company founded in 2021 by Jules Veyrat, Alexandre Andreini, Nicolas Sayer, and Philippe Mangematin, is addressing cybersecurity, one of the greatest dangers to small businesses in Europe. In order to do this, it offers businesses internal underwritten cybersecurity insurance coverage. Additionally, it produces its own security software.
How does it operate?
Stoïk is able to leverage the data it gathers through the software to better understand and underwrite the risks faced by SMEs, even though enterprises receive this software for free when they acquire insurance.
In order to provide cyber insurance through its platform, Stok positions itself as a “wholesale broker” that collaborates with insurance brokers that lack this specialised knowledge of cybersecurity. There are hundreds of broker partners with it currently.
For Jules Veyrat, CEO and co-founder of Stoïk said, “We are proud to announce this new round table with a16z, which is a great sign of confidence in Stoïk’s model. This confirms our vision and our ambition: to create the best cybersecurity insurance for VSEs and SMEs at European level and to support brokers in the distribution of cyber insurance. The fundraising will allow us to support our growth and to recruit the best profiles in the insurance world to continue to develop our insurance expertise, mainly commercial profiles to meet the strong demand from our partner brokers. We will also expand our engineering teams to continue to develop the cyber security solutions that enable our policyholders to protect themselves against attacks.”
Seema Amble, Partner at a16z said, “Having looked closely at the cyber insurance market globally, we were impressed by the Stoik team, approach, and quick progress. We believe that there’s an exciting opportunity to capture the European market, and that Stoik is in the best position to do so.”
Future plans
In the past six months, Stoïk has expanded from 12 to 28 employees, and it intends to double this number over the course of the upcoming year across its sales, cyber, marketing, and product teams. By the end of the year, Stoïk hopes to have 1,000 active brokers on its platform, up from 200 according to its claims.
Stoïk intends to enter more European nations by introducing new insurance products that are tailored to regional needs. The market for cyber insurance in Europe has shown rapid growth in recent years and is anticipated to soon match that of the US industry.
