Luko

Luko is a Paris-based B-Corp venture who have built sensors & AI that work to safeguard against accidents in the home (leaks, fires, intrusion etc.). Underwritten by La Parisienne Assurances, it safeguards damages caused by carelessness or negligence without limitation for bodily injury and up to €50k for property damage. Since 2019, Luko has also broadened its offering to include coverage for electric scooters (up to €8k in value).

The startup offers several IoT solutions to help keep their customers protected and conscious of their energy consumption, citing prevention being better than a cure. Luko offers devices that specifically target water leaks (Luko Water), burglary (Luko Smart Door) and fire (Luko Elec - which also monitors electrical consumption in real time). The startup also offers Luko Bridge, which can analyse data from different sensors from around the home. All the devices connect to a consumer's smart phone and send notifications if it detects anything out of the ordinary (Luko sensors use machine learning to learn consumer's routines). Luko also helps to lower energy consumption, reducing bills and environmental impact.

Luko claimed to reach 10k customers in France within a year of launch.

Midway through 2018, Luko raised €2 million in seed round funding led by Angel investor Bruno Rousset and Xavier Niel (Kima Ventures).

The following year Luko announced a partnership with Munich Re, together launching an AI-powered satellite imagery home insurance. The technology enables Luko to avoid large forms, and instead use satellite imagery to automatically detect a property's roof surface, ground surface and other variables, which in turn means the startup is able to produce a personalised insurance solution for a consumer within two minutes. The images also help analyse and review a property in the event of a claim.

In 2019 the startup also partnered with Lydia, a France-based P2P payment app, to ensure instant payments.

In November 2019 Luko announced it had raised a €20m Series A round, led by Accel. Co-Founder Raphaël Vullierme stated the funding will be used to 'accelerate its home protection technology development, expand from France across Europe, and develop additional HomeCare Services.'

Luko revealed it had reached 100k customers by December 2019.

In February 2020 it was reported that Luko was exploring its entry into the UK.

In October 2020 Luko launched a remote home maintenance video service. Doctor House aims to help support policyholders with all their home maintenance needs by providing a complete home check up, a diagnosis of needed home repairs, and an estimate for development projects.

In December 2020 Luko raised $60m in Series B funding - notably, Hippo Co-Founder and CEO Assaf Wand was an angel investor.

In January 2022 Luko announced it was acquiring German-based insurtech Coya to expand its presence in Europe, plus gain an insurance license. In that same month, Luko also partnered with Akur8 to strengthen its current pricing model.

In March 2022 Luko went on to acquire Unkle, which specialises in unpaid rent insurance. It will integrate the insurance offer and also accelerate Luko's development of new distribution channels.

In May 2022 Luko announced that it insures more than 1,000 buildings, representing more than 10,000 lots, under the co-ownership and building insurance contract (MRI insurance), just one year after the launch of its product.

During June 2023 it was announced that the company was to be acquired by by Admiral Group for an undisclosed sum. Luko had established itself in the online home insurance market and by 2022, 25% of home insurance policies sold online in France were via Luko. It has been working to define the optimal strategy to continue growing and achieve scale and profitability and chose Admiral as its best partner going forward. Admiral said the acquisition would accelerate its growth in France, where its existing French business, L'olivier Assurance, already sells motor and home insurance.

Admiral's acquisition of Luko fell apart several months later, after issues were highlighted during an audit in the buy out process. The startup was place into receivership in November 2022.