Travel insurance startup Faye raises $10M

Travel insurance startup Faye today announced it has raised $10M in Series A funding just a year after launching its product in the U.S., bringing the company’s total funding to $18M.

The round was led by Munich Re Ventures along with existing investors Viola Ventures and F2 Venture Capital. Additional investors include Menora Tech and Mike Nelson, former CEO of Global Travel Insurance at Allianz.

Faye’s protection covers travelers’ trips, health, belongings and pets. In the Faye app, travelers can file claims and receive reimbursement via its Faye Wallet, which works similarly to Apple Pay and Google Pay, within 48 hours. The app also sends travelers real-time protective alerts and provides 24/7 customer support.

The funding news comes shortly after the company launched its Travel Advisor Portal, a one-stop-shop where travel advisors and agencies can offer, learn about and manage travel insurance with Faye. In addition, the company released a newly developed application programming interface (API) to enable seamless integration with travel distributors who wish to offer travel protection to their customers, fully embedded into their offerings.

Faye is the second startup founded by serial entrepreneurs and travel enthusiasts Elad Schaffer (CEO) and Daniel Green (CTO). In the coming months, the duo plan to dedicate this capital injection to fuel growth, develop new insurance offerings, support scale through automation and seamless integrations and forge new partnerships with top brands and distribution partners.

“Faye fundamentally views travel insurance differently,” Schaffer said. “Until Faye, travel insurance was often thought of as a reimbursement service. Faye's approach combines travel insurance with real-time assistance, information, a 24/7 concierge and even financial support. Our role is to help ensure that you have a smooth adventure that's memorable for the right reasons. We’ve built an offering that travelers will want to use for life, so bringing Faye along is just as obvious as bringing your passport. This approach is working. We continue to see rapid growth in travelers using Faye and coming back for more - month over month.”

Faye has made additional enhancement to its offering since its initial launch, releasing new coverage add-ons including Adventure & Extreme Sports and Vacation Rental Damage Protection. Now available in 48 states, including New York, California, Florida and Texas, Faye plans will soon be available nationwide. Last year it raised $8 million in seed funding for its app.

“With the end consumer in mind, Faye provides transparent, digitally-integrated full coverage, and a real-time approach to managing the many potential hiccups that can happen on a trip,” said Sidra Ahmed, investment director for Munich Re Ventures and a new member of Faye’s board of directors. “Faye has successfully married the worlds of travel, insurtech and fintech to seamlessly enable consumers to protect their travel investments.”