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Sunnyvale, CA-based telematics technology company Roost has closed a US$10.4 million Series B funding round led by Aviva Ventures, Desjardins Insurance and Chinese venture capital firm Fosun RZ Capital.
A release said that previous existing investors also participated, which brought Roost’s total funding to date to US$17 million.
“As a corporate venture fund, we look for innovative businesses around the world that will shape the future of insurance and we are delighted to be entering the US market with this investment in Roost,” said Aviva Ventures managing director Ben Luckett.
“Roost has great technology and a strong team. In the UK, we have been offering Roost Smart Batteries to our home insurance customers and I am excited about how this investment supports our ambition to empower our customers to prevent bad things from happening, rather than fixing it when something goes wrong.”
“The launch of our Alert program in March, enabled by Roost’s Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector, has contributed in driving policyholder engagement and loyalty,” added Desjardins Insurance vice-president of Strategy, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships Boris Collignon. “Our policyholders can take advantage of this free solution to quickly mitigate water leak situations before damage occurs and to avoid this type of stressful situation as much as possible.”
“We are very excited to have the participation of three major insurers in our latest investment round,” Roost co-founder and CEO Roel Peeters said in a statement. “This commitment is a strong validation of Roost’s value proposition as a leader in the emerging home telematics insurance segment. The new funding will be used to continue our product development efforts as well as expand new product services for our insurance partners.”
