The pet insurance and perks insurtech startup Wagmo sequred $8.9 mn after Series A financing in 2022 a $12.5 mn led by Revolution Ventures with participation from Female Founders Fund, Clocktower Technology Ventures, and Vestigo Ventures.
New funding raises their total to $24.5 mn. Angels, including Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jim Grube, Marilyn Hirsch, David Ronick, and Michael Akkerman, also participated in the round.
The company, which recently underwent rebranding, has around 35 employees. It offers two main pet health plans: Wagmo Insurance for emergency care and Wagmo Wellness for routine pet maintenance, covering everything from regular vet visits to grooming (see How InsurTech Can Optimize Pet Insurance Industry?).
Most pet insurance providers cover the big emergencies, such as surgeries, broken bones, etc. But anyone with a pet, and especially a new puppy, knows that the costs of basic care can add up very quickly.
The company was founded by Christie Horvath and Ali Foxworth, who both came from the world of finance and insurance and realized the gap in the market when it comes to pet insurance.
Wagmo offers the same basic coverage as your usual pet insurance, but also offers a wellness service. The Wellness Program reimburses pet parents for the more basic stuff, like vaccinations, grooming, regular vet visits, fecal tests, and bloodwork.
The premise here is two-fold. A healthy dog, who has access to all the basics listed above, is less likely to have major issues later on. The second piece is that the earliest costs associated with owning a dog are these basic ones, like vaccinations, vet visits, fecal tests and grooming.
Wagmo offers the wellness plan without an insurance plan
That means that users can onboard to the platform with what they need first, and upgrade to an insurance plan later on.
Users simply pay anywhere between $20/month and $59/month and submit photos of their receipts in the app. Wagmo then reimburses what’s covered via Venmo, PayPal, or direct deposit within 24 hours.
Wagmo generates revenue through both the wellness and insurance plan, but is actively looking into an enterprise model, as well, signing on larger organizations as part of their benefits package to employees.
by Peter Sonner
