Ohio car insurance startup secures over $50 million in single funding round

The Columbus, Ohio-based Root Insurance enjoyed one of the most successful funding rounds in the state’s history after it secured $51 million in a series C round spearheaded by Redpoint Ventures, according to a VentureBeat report. In a press release announcing the funding, the startup company said it would use the large chunk of change to expand outward into different states. Root Insurance boasts that it is “the first car insurance company to incorporate individual driving behavior in every quote.” In lieu of relying on standard demographics to define coverage plans like traditional insurance companies, the Root app allows users to receive customized quotes and promises large savings for good drivers. “As Root reinvents car insurance, we are excited to have Redpoint and ScaleVP add to the experience and expertise provided by our current investors”, CEO and Co-Founder of Root Alex Timm said in a company press release. “Our technology allows us to give drivers rates based primarily on factors they can actually control, bringing fairness to a broken and antiquated industry. We are leveraging mobile technology and artificial intelligence to reimagine the way insurance works.” Recent statistics from Crunchbase show that Ohio is the 3rd biggest receiver of venture capital deals in the Midwest. Columbus also ranks third among Midwestern cities for deal volume for venture deals from 2017 to mid-March of the current year. However, the capital city lags greatly behind other large Midwest hubs when it comes to dollar amounts raised from such venture deals. Root Insurance’s latest win in its funding round will certainly boost those numbers and Crunchbase numbers show that this series C round of funding could be the largest in history. Created in 2016, Root is already located in 11 states throughout the U.S. and says it should be “nearly national” by next year. “Root’s model of using mobile phone data to reward safe driving is fair to drivers, economically rational, and represents an impressive technical accomplishment,” said Elliot Geidt, a partner at Root’s main investor Redpoint Ventures.