Koala, the French startup which creates simple insurance services and products for the travel sector, has just completed a fundraising of 2 million euros. Business Cool spoke with Léo Trodjman, co-founder and COO of Koala. The latter enlightened us on the future projects of this insurtech.
Everything you need to know about Koala
Who are you ?
I am Léo Tordjman, co-founder and COO of Koala, I am 27 years old and I am from the Paris region.
My professional experience is quick to summarize. I co-founded my first startup (Oui Reward) while studying in business school. I took a gap year to continue developing the startup and… never returned to school. We had initial success with this first adventure (more than 20,000 customers in a few months) before realizing a scalability problem. With the same co-founder, we therefore ended its development to create our second company: Koala.
What is Koala doing?
Koala is a travel InsurTech whose mission is to provide peace of mind to travelers, from the moment they book their trip to the minute they return home. We are trying to change the travel insurance codes. At our company, we have replaced slow processes and the need for proof with proactivity, non-exclusion and transparency. All our products are designed from the ground up with the same philosophy: automate 100% of operations while removing all the friction of an insurance product.
We believe travelers pay to be protected, not to justify their use. That’s why we ensure that 100% of our users eligible for compensation receive their dues at lightning speed. To date, we have developed innovative and unique products that have enjoyed great success:
- Cancellation without justification and without reason
- Proactive insurance for canceled and delayed flights
After a commercial launch in 2022, we had a first year full of promise with more than 30 partnerships signed with travel distributors, profitability and more than 100,000 travelers protected. 2023 is off to a flying start where, as of March, we have protected more people than in 2022.
Koala’s fundraising
Why did you raise 2 million euros?
This fundraising has 3 goals:
- recruit around twenty people by 2024;
- create several new exclusive travel insurance products;
- continue to develop our Tech product, particularly related to data subjects which allow us to hyper personalize our travel protection.
Why did you choose to bring these investors into your capital?
Koala has chosen to bring Insurtech Gateway, Uneti Ventures, Slimmer Al and Sterling Oak into our capital.
Insurtech Gateway is our historic investor. They had confidence in us during our first fundraising in 2020, when COVID had just appeared. Their advice is valuable and they are investors who are always willing to help.
We find different qualities in our three new investors. Uneti Ventures is a group made up of expert entrepreneurial investors, they have experience and always ask the right questions. Slimmer AI is a venture studio specializing in AI, which is one of the subjects of our data department, and will provide us with expertise on future issues. Sterling Oak, for its part, is an expert in the Tech environment.
What will Koala look like in 5 years?
We want to become a European benchmark in the travel insurance market.
