Twin Brothers Behind Unicorn Startup Marshmallow Nearly Triples Its Sales

As AFROTECH previously told you, Marshmallow — a digital car insurance startup — reached unicorn status in 2023. The company has now joined the ranks as the second Black-owned startup in the U.K. to accomplish this feat, with Zepz, a money-transfer firm, being the pioneer.

Marshmallow’s $1.25 billion valuation was a result of a $85 million Series B funding round in 2021. Investors included Passion Capital, Monzo, Investec, and Scor, CNBC reports.

“We were pretty surprised by this fact,” Oliver told CNBC.

The company was birthed with a four member team in what they called “the cheapest office space.” Today, the company has over 170 individuals on their team and boasts hundreds of thousands of users.

“We now help 100,000s of UK newcomers get a fairer deal on their car insurance every year. We do this by building our own technology, developing pricing and fraud models that let us cater to their unique experiences, and investing time in getting to know them on a deeper level,” the company said in a statement shared on their website.

What’s more, Marshmallow is nearly tripling its sales, The Standard reports.

The outlet says the company “saw turnover climb 175% to £22.9 million in 2022, while profits jumped to £709,000.”

Additionally, the company reveals it “had so far sold over 342,000 policies, with over 300,000 downloads of its app and more than £66 million paid out in claims.”

The founders’ mission for the company was to ensure marginalized communities could afford insurance.

“There are millions of marginalised customers out there who find themselves on a different path – either by choice or circumstance,” a statement on the company’s website reads. “And we know they face unique problems that most companies aren’t even aware of. We believe our future is in helping those people by learning about their experiences, and building our company around their needs. Solving important problems for the people who need it most.”