• Bicycle insurance disruptor Laka receives investment from Porsche Ventures.              
• Laka transforms insurance for businesses and customers across Europe, with unique daily pricing based on the actual cost of claims. 
• The launch of Laka’s partnership with Cyklaer will bolster its existing retail network, which includes the world’s largest sports retailer, Decathlon, cycling brands Raleigh and Le Col, and Santander Consumer Finance and Monzo.

London, 23rd June 2022: Laka (www.laka.co) winner of the ‘Best Cycle Insurance Provider’ Award four years in a row has secured additional funding from Porsche Ventures, the venture capital unit of Porsche AG. This brings its Series A, led by Autotech Ventures and followed by Ponooc, Dutch sustainable mobility investor with close ties to the world’s largest bike seller Pon, and ABN AMRO, to $13.5m. Laka will use the new capital and network opportunities to facilitate its European expansion.

With no major European player for cycling and e-mobility insurance, Laka is uniquely placed and first-to-market with an insurance model that has customer interest built-in to the core. Laka will expand its product offering to e-scooters, e-mopeds and, eventually, e-cars to better serve Europe-wide partnerships including manufacturers, retailers and leasing businesses. 

About the investment, Patrick Huke, Head of Porsche Ventures, Europe & Israel said 

“The increasing digitization and variety of sustainable mobility offers leads to the need for an innovative and customer-centric offer in the field of digital insurance. With the investment in Laka, we are pleased to support a strong team that is addressing the global insurance market with a unique, highly adaptable and digital business model, which focuses above all on the customer experience.” 

Laka will be exploring opportunities with the Porsche Ventures portfolio to build the backbone to support the e-mobility segment. Initially partnering with German cycling brand Cyklaer (www.cyklaer.de) to offer new and existing customers built in digital insurance products. Cyklaer will be joining Laka’s partners, which include the world’s largest sports retailer, Decathlon, iconic cycling brands Raleigh and Le Col, as well as Santander Consumer Finance and Monzo. The partnerships enable the brands to provide end to end digital experiences by immediately protecting their customers from theft and damage at the point of sale. 

Tobias Taupitz, CEO and co-founder of Laka says “2021 truly depicted an inflection point for Laka as we moved from a pure direct-to-consumer play towards retail and commercial partnerships.     

e-mobility is redefining transport globally, and Laka has set out to build the backbone to support the e-mobility segment at a time when “Net Zero Emissions” has rightly become front of mind for consumers, businesses and government policy. To support this shift towards a greener future, we have a bold vision to become the world’s largest e-mobility insurance partner.” 

Already insuring many of the UK’s leading last mile delivery companies, such as Zapp and Urbit. Laka is also expanding to cover commercial fleets Europe-wide, where companies who are shifting their fleet to greener transport and e-mobility are underserved by traditional insurers. 

Porsche Ventures joined the existing investor list including Autotech Ventures, Ponooc, ABN AMRO Ventures, Creandum, LocalGlobe, 1818 Ventures and Elkstone Partners. Notably, confidence in Laka was shown by global cycling industry leaders, with angel investment coming from Zwift CEO and cofounder, Eric Min in January 2022. 

For further information about Laka visit laka.co

Ends

Laka media contacts

Laka: Kelly Barnes [email protected] +44 7534913044

About Laka 

Laka, winner of the ‘Best Cycle Insurance Provider’ Award four years in a row, has challenged outdated traditional insurance to provide customers and businesses’ with a fairer, collective-driven approach to insurance. Laka customers pay no upfront premiums, and are instead charged based on the cost of claims submitted by the collective the previous month. Fewer claims result in lower charges. Laka customers work together as a collective and share the cost of claims. Laka handles all claims, divides the cost fairly and limits each customer’s maximum monthly spend with a cap based on the value of the equipment insured by each individual member. Laka members fully benefit from lower costs but are also protected if there are a high volume of claims in any given month. 

About Porsche Ventures 

Porsche Ventures is the venture capital unit of Porsche AG and has offices in Stuttgart, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Palo Alto and Shanghai. It invests in innovative technology and business models around the world. Porsche has been active on the start-up scene since 2016 and has built a diverse start-up ecosystem in order to work with new, innovative companies in various phases of development. In addition to Porsche Ventures, the Porsche ecosystem includes the technology and digital unit Porsche Digital, the company builder Forward 31 and the early-stage investor APX, a joint venture with Axel Springer SE. To learn more, visit: www.porsche.ventures and www.porsche.digital