Augmentum writes that this is its first investment in the insurtech space and the company’s second investment in Germany, following its investment in Grover, the country’s consumer technology subscription platform.

The firm writes that Baobab is a pioneer in the provision of European cyber insurance for SMEs. With capacity provision from Zurich, Baobab uses a novel approach to underwriting, pricing and risk mitigation, and works with leading SME cyber security providers to prevent breaches for its insured customers.

Augmentum writes that the portfolio now comprises 25 private fintech companies, diversified across fintech verticals, stages of maturity and geographies. Despite the current public markets volatility, the Portfolio Manager believes the portfolio continues to provide significant growth potential and the top five portfolio companies have an average Year over Year revenue growth rate of 102 per cent.

Updates from the portfolio include: 

Tide (11.9 per cent of portfolio). In November 2022, the UK’s SME banking provider acquired Funding Options, a leading UK marketplace for SMEs seeking business finance, subject to FCA approval. The merged credit business will give Tide’s 475,000 customers access to a wider range of credit options and creates one of the UK’s biggest digital marketplaces for SME credit. In December 2022, Tide launched in India with two business banking solutions – the Tide Business Account and its RuPay-powered Tide Expense Card.

Zopa (11.1 per cent of portfolio). Following digital bank Zopa becoming profitable in April 2022, just 21 months after securing its banking licence, the company has now surpassed GBP3 billion in deposits across its Smart Saver and Fixed Term Saving offerings.

Gemini (5.3 per cent of portfolio). Digital asset exchange and financial services platform Gemini had a product marketing partnership with Genesis Global, a digital asset lending company which has entered Chapter 11 proceedings in the US. Gemini’s ongoing engagement with Genesis Global is solely as an agent acting on behalf of Gemini users who hold outstanding claims against Genesis Global. Augmentum has seen no information to date that would lead them to believe their holding value in Gemini requires revision. Augmentum writes that it has a level of downside protection on its investment in Gemini and continues to closely engage with management.

Anyfin (3.4 per cent of portfolio). The Stockholm-based consumer debt refinancing platform confirmed in January 2023 that it had completed a USD30 million Series C funding round led by Northzone. Augmentum participated alongside new investor Citi Ventures and other existing investors. Anyfin’s mobile app has been downloaded more than one million times, with more than 500,000 downloads in 2022. With this new capital, Anyfin plans to expand across Europe as well as strengthen its product suite in existing markets.

Farewill (2.8 per cent of portfolio). The digital, all-in-one financial and legal services platform for dealing with death and after-death services has raised GBP4.75 million with participation from investors including Augmentum and Highland Europe. Farewill was named National Will Writing Firm of the Year for a fourth consecutive year at the 2022 British Wills and Probate Awards.

Wayhome (1.7 per cent of portfolio). The UK’s first provider of gradual home ownership, through the combination of capital and rental payment, crossed the milestone of completing the purchase of its first 100 homes. Wayhome also completed an oversubscribed GBP3.2 million crowdfunding round in November 2022.

Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech, says: “We are pleased to lead Baobab’s new investment round. We have strong conviction that new risks are driving opportunities in insurtech and cyber represents a fast growing and underpenetrated market. The team demonstrates strong execution capabilities in developing a solid product, building out a rapidly expanding network of broker partners across Germany and have secured backing from a leading tier one capacity provider in Zurich. We look forward to working with Vincenz Klemm and the entire Baobab team as they build out this new European category leader in cyber insurance for the underserved SME market”.