GUARDHOG: Impact 25 2018 Profile
February 15, 2018
This is a summary of the profile which first appeared in the Oxbow Partners InsurTech Impact 25: 2018.
GUARDHOG provides an insurance platform for users and businesses in the sharing economy. To date, GUARDHOG has launched 3 on-demand products:
- HostCover: for home sharing, home exchangers, house sitters
- StufCover: insuring assets when loaned or rented out
- StorageCover: protection for possessions stored with 3rd parties
GUARDHOG’s technology platform has been built specifically to deliver insurance products to the sharing economy by integrating with sharing economy platforms.
“Just brilliant. A nightmare scenario had a silver lining as it lead to me to finding out about GUARDHOG. Amazing service and brilliant. product. A complete no-brainer if you’re in the sharing economy & need insurance. Thank you.”
Facebook customer review
Impact
The number of nights covered by GUARDHOG grew steadily throughout 2017.
Case Study One
Client situation: An AirBnB host wanted to ensure that their home insurance cover was not restricted when they had paying guests to stay.
What they did: GUARDHOG’s introduced HostCover to provide cover for this risk. The Host linked their AirBnB account to GUARDHOG so that insurance cover mirrored the host’s bookings.
Impact: The AirBnB host can share their home with confidence, only paying for cover when they need it and not having to take action to do so.
Case Study Two
Client situation: GUARDHOG’s client had built a peer-to-peer platform to compete with the traditional ‘left-luggage’ model. They required a solution to protect third party goods when stored in a network of shops, cafes, hotels etc.
What they did: GUARDHOG designed and built an insurance solution to provide on-demand cover for possessions when left at worldwide storage points.
Impact: The client is widely considered one of the most exciting sharing economy businesses in the UK and they see this flexible cross-territory insurance solution as fundamental to consumer trust and confidence in their business model. GUARDHOG’s solution has been a key enabler to this confidence, growth and successful fundraising.
The Oxbow Partners View
Traction: GUARDHOG hit £500k revenue run-rate by the end of 2017 with no external funding in place. We think the experience of the management team has been instrumental in getting the business up-and-running so quickly.
Potential: GUARDHOG is in an attractive part of the insurance market; AirBnB stays are projected to increase from 1m to 2m per day from 2017 to 2018. With 150 integrations in place, there is a good platform for growth.
The 2018 challenge: Several companies are pursuing similar business models to GUARDHOG (including Impact 25 Member Zego). We foresee a ‘landgrab’, which will require GUARDHOG to raise funding and accelerate partnerships quickly in 2018.