InsurTech Ripe Thinking has achieved its strongest financial performance to date and says it is embarking on its next phase of growth.
Ripe, which featured on our sister publication BusinessCloud’s InsurTech 50 ranking last year, reported a 24% rise in turnover to £23.3 million for the year ending 31st December 2021.
It also said profits ‘remain consistently strong’.
The Manchester-headquartered digital insurance business attracted major investment from Aquiline Capital Partners in November 2021, with the global investment management firm acquiring a majority stake.
InsurTech 50 – UK’s most innovative insurance technology creators for 2021
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 being deployed for Ripe’s own products, as well as providing the capability for a white label solution for affinity partners.
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.
“Our model has been resilient through the economic challenges of the past two years, and we maintained our trajectory through the pandemic,” said Paul Williams, CEO.
“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 Cycleplan insurance, which teamed up with Halfords and Aviva to extend the brand’s presence in the cycling market.