Travel insurance startup Koala has landed €1.6 million in seed funding.
The round was led by Insurtech Gateway, an incubator and fund specializing in the insurtech arena.
Playfair Capital, Techstars Ventures and private investors were also involved in the investment.
Koala, which so far offers flight disruption insurance, says its service will be made available via two carriers and four travel agencies in the next three months.
The Paris, France-based business tracks journeys in real time and notifies travelers of disruptions. It claims to pay out instantly, without the need for any form-filling.
Ugo Weyl, co-founder and CEO at Koala, says: “Every year, hundreds of millions of passengers suffer flight disruptions and face an uphill battle to claim compensation. Travellers face antiquated claims procedures, with only 15% of customers receiving a pay-out. We felt this was unfair, a delay is a delay and customers should be compensated 100% of the time.”
The service also aims to remove some of the pressure from airline customer teams.
The investment will go towards recruitment and new product development.
Koala says it has ambitions beyond travel insurance and wants to become a travel companion.
Stephen Brittain, co-founder of Insurtech Gateway, adds: “We had seen several flight disruption startups before Koala. Their positioning to work directly with the airlines was bold, different and clearly learned the hard way. We’re excited to support them as they launch their beta product and to be a part of their future success.”