UK insurtech Ripe Thinking has achieved its strongest financial performance to date and is embarking on its next phase of growth and proprietary tech deployment.
Ripe has reported a record year, with turnover rising by 24% to £23.3m for year ending 31 December 2021 (2020: £18.8) and profits remain consistently strong.
It has been a pivotal year for the Manchester headquartered digital insurance business, which attracted major investment from Aquiline Capital Partners in November1, with the global investment management firm acquiring a majority stake. Following its 14th consecutive year of growth, Ripe is expanding its team by a third during 2022.
Employee numbers climbed to 77 in 2021 and have increased to 102 this year - including the further expansion of its tech and digital marketing teams.
Ripe’s multimillion-pound cloud-based underwriting and insurance distribution platform – known as Juice - is playing a central role in the company’s latest success. It is being deployed for Ripe’s own products, as well as providing the capability for a white label solution for affinity partners.
Advances made during 2021 made product deployment faster and have kept Ripe’s tech capabilities ahead of the market. R&D investment last year saw integration of the proprietary tech across Ripe’s brands – making product updates more agile and enhancing the digital journey for customers. Insurance purchases are made completely online by 90% of Ripe’s customers.
The company is developing AI and machine learning within the insurance sector, with robotics and data analytics a key area of focus, supported by a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Salford.
Paul Williams ACII, CEO of Ripe Thinking, said: “Our model has been resilient through the economic challenges of the past two years, and we maintained our trajectory through the pandemic. We have a clear route for long term growth and the ability to deliver consistently strong profits. Couple this with our ethos to digitally transform the insurance sector and the technology in place to deliver it, and we are primed for our next bold phase of development.”
“We think differently at Ripe, for us it is all about ‘hyper-targeting’ and using the power of our AI-assisted Juice platform to push the limits of product deployment in the industry. There are big plans underway, and our talented team are fundamental to our growth into new markets and the launch of new products.”
Ripe creates specialist insurance products focused on leisure, lifestyle and the SME market. It develops ultra-targeted insurance, where customers can easily build their own policy rather than being restricted to a pre-bundled package. Its products are designed so tailored insurance can be purchased through a quick and easy digital journey.
Ripe Caravans, underwritten by Aviva, is the most successful new product development for Ripe and since launching on the Juice platform in 2020 has attracted more than 24,000 policyholders. All of Ripe’s products saw growth last year - including its popular Cycleplan insurance, which teamed up with Halfords2 and Aviva3 to extend the brand’s presence in the cycling market. Plans are now underway for new product launches in 2022.
2 https://www.ripethinking.co.uk/news/halfords-announces-ripes-cycleplan-as-insurance-partner/