UK-based insurtech Ripe Thinking has achieved its strongest-ever financial results, marking its transition into its next phase of growth.
The company recorded a 24% increase in turnover, from £18.8 million in 2020 to £23.3 million for 2021, with profits remaining consistently strong. In November, Ripe attracted major investment from global investment management firm Aquiline Capital Partners, which acquired a majority stake.
Following its 14th consecutive year of growth, Ripe is continuing to grow its team in 2022. Its employee headcount reached 77 in 2021 and increased further to 102 this year with the expansion of its tech and digital marketing teams.
Ripe developed Juice, a cloud-based underwriting and insurance distribution platform, which is playing a central role in the company’s latest endeavour. It is being deployed for Ripe’s own products, as well as providing a white label solution for affinity partners. According to Ripe, advances made during 2021 made product deployment faster and have kept its tech capabilities ahead of the market.
Last year’s R&D investment saw integration of the proprietary tech across Ripe’s brands, making product updates more agile and enhancing the digital journey for customers. This has allowed 90% of Ripe’s customers to conduct their insurance purchases completely online. Ripe is also developing AI and machine learning technology, with robotics and data analytics a key area of focus, for the insurance sector. This is supported by a knowledge transfer partnership with the University of Salford.
“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,” said Paul Williams, CEO of Ripe Thinking. “There are big plans underway, and our talented team are fundamental to our growth into new markets and the launch of new products.”
Since launching on the Juice platform in 2020, Ripe Caravans, underwritten by Aviva, has been the company’s most successful new product development, having attracted more than 24,000 policyholders. Ripe entered the cycling market last year with its Cycleplan product, a tie-up with Halfords and Aviva. The company said that it will launch more products in 2022.
