Finance Durham supports funding round for honcho

The Finance Durham Fund, established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham, and the North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, have announced a further investment in Honcho Markets (honcho). The funds, which are both managed by Maven Capital Partners (Maven), have participated in the latest funding round that has attracted a further £1.2 million of investment, primarily raised through a fully subscribed CrowdCube fundraise as well as a commitment from venture capital incubator Insurtech Gateway.

Durham-based insurtech disruptor honcho, which developed the UK’s first reverse auction marketplace for buying insurance, has completed a further investment round as part of its growth strategy to revolutionise the market for consumers.

Maven funds originally invested in FCA authorised honcho in June 2019 to support this innovative business in launching its platform nationally with a car insurance offering, as well as developing additional insurance product lines and making significant enhancements to the platform.

In a UK consumer insurance industry which is the third largest globally, with over 900 authorised general insurance companies in the UK alone, the market is dominated by price comparison websites which are increasingly under the spotlight for a lack of transparency.

honcho has developed an app which provides consumers with a cost-effective, transparent and engaging way of buying car, home, contents, travel or pet insurance. Using a reverse auction marketplace, honcho ensures a highly competitive quote by allowing insurance companies to bid to offer consumers their best price. This process allows customers to pick the bid that suits them best, and puts the customers' interests at the heart of the transaction.

honcho’s growth plans include the addition of new van insurance and for learner driver insurance lines, with innovative social media marketing campaigns to support their launch into those markets.

Michael Vassallo, Investment Director at Maven, said: “We’re delighted to support honcho’s latest fundraise, having backed the business originally in 2018, we continue to support Gavin and the team as they grow the platform, making significant enhancements and adding new insurance product lines.”

Gavin Sewell, CEO at honcho, said: “Raising investment is one of the most challenging aspects of running a startup, and we’re delighted to have achieved this £1.2m raise with the continued support of Maven Capital Partners and with further investment from the crowd."