Business
Brazilian mobile phone insurance technology startup Pitzi is now worth over $100 million
With roughly one million customers across Brazil and a new round of financing, the mobile phone insurance provider Pitzi now finds itself with a $100 million valuation.
The size of its latest round, which was led by QED Investors and included commitments from existing investors like Thrive Capital and Valiant Partners, was undisclosed.
PItzi acts as a reseller for insurance companies to offer products around mobile phone insurance across Brazil. Founded in 2012, the company’s mobile handset insurance offerings were a service that was in the right place at the right time, as low-cost handsets caused the market in Latin America’s most populous country to explode.
Pitzi previously raised $20 million from investors, including Thrive, Kaszek Ventures, Flybridge and DCM. Even with the company’s success, cell phone insurance in Brazil stands at 4%, compared with global standards of more than 40%. This despite the fact that there are more than 200 million phones in Brazil alone.
“Today, only 4% of smartphones here are protected but we’re driving that towards 90% in the coming years and using those phones to unlock even more transformation in the space,” said Daniel Hatkoff, founder and CEO of Pitzi, in a statement.
The investment by QED Investors puts Pitzi in some pretty good company when it comes to Latin American financial technology startups. Other Latin American investments in the firm’s portfolio include the multibillion-dollar credit card startup, Nubank; the personal finance lender, Creditas; the business lender, Konfio; and the rental financing company Quinto Andar.
As a result of the investment, Bill Cilluffo, a former president of Capital One International and a general partner with QED, will take a seat on the company’s board of directors, according to a statement.
For Hatkoff, the cell phone is a window into other products and services in the insurance industry thanks to the ways the device has transformed so many experiences for the emerging Brazilian middle class.
“The smartphone will be profoundly transformational in Brazil, allowing the emerging middle class to finally emerge and do things it never imagined possible,” said Hatkoff. “As market leaders, we at Pitzi are obsessed with unlocking the Brazilian consumer’s ability to use their phones in ever more powerful ways. Cell phone protection is just the beginning.”
-
Business6 days ago
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fines BloomTech for false claims
-
Business5 days ago
Langdock raises $3M with General Catalyst to help businesses avoid vendor lock-in with LLMs
-
Entertainment4 days ago
What Robert Durst did: Everything to know ahead of ‘The Jinx: Part 2’
-
Business7 days ago
Klarna credit card launches in the US as Swedish fintech grows its market presence
-
Entertainment4 days ago
This nova is on the verge of exploding. You could see it any day now.
-
Business4 days ago
India’s election overshadowed by the rise of online misinformation
-
Business3 days ago
This camera trades pictures for AI poetry
-
Business4 days ago
CesiumAstro claims former exec spilled trade secrets to upstart competitor AnySignal