Metromile

Metromile is a pay-per-mile, full-stack car insurance provider in the US. They charge their customers a premium relative to the actual miles they drive, claiming that 65% of drivers end up paying higher premiums to subsidise high mileage drivers.

The startup has created a mobile platform which uses data from the telematics technology ‘Pulse’ to provide the user with useful data on things such as car location and health, creating opportunities for e-commerce API’s. Metromile has also developed Metromile Enterprise, a cloud-based enterprise insurtech solution providing P&C insurance carriers with advanced claims automation and fraud detection tools.

The company has also partnered with Uber, connecting with the ridesharer's platform technology and providing a solution of insurance premiums differing between personal use, being on call, and carrying Uber passengers.

In 2019, Metromile teamed up with car sharing marketplace Turo to offer a monthly base rate plus a per mile covering only the miles they drive themselves. To track this, Turo hosts will use the Metromile Pulse device, along with their calendar, so that Metromile can separate personal miles from miles driven on Turo guest trips. The offering will initially launch in Illinois and will then roll out across California, Washington, Oregon, Virginia, New Jersey, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

Metromile reported it was on track to write around $100m in premiums in 2019, having already written $52m in the first half of the year.

In 2019, CEO Dan Preston revealed that the company was planning an IPO within the next "couple of years".

In February 2020, Tokio Marine licensed Metromile's auto claims technology. The digital FNoL Report product has been deployed, enabling drivers to report incidents online and on a mobile app.

During Covid-19 Metromile laid off or furloughed over 100 staff, including its marketing team.

In September 2020 Metromile partnered with Ford to offer pay-per-mile insurance.

That same month, hired a new VP of Enterprise Sales to license its low-code AI claims platform to global insurers.

In October 2020 Metromile launched Ride Along, a free trial of their pay-per-mile insurance where users can measure how much they drive over a two week period, and see how much they could save if they switched to Metromile.

In November 2020 it was revealed that Metromile will go public via a blank-check company. Metromile, which isn't yet profitable, will merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Insu Acquisition Corp II, and when the move is completed, the company will have a $1.3bn equity value.

In February 2021 Metromile completed its merger with INSU Acquisition Corp II, and began trading on NASDAQ under 'MILE'.

In May 2021 Metromile announced it will enable its policyholders to pay premiums with cryptocurrency, as well as receive claim payouts with it - the first insurer to do so. The venture will buy $10m worth of Bitcoin to pave the way for the new form of transactions. The move comes at the same time as Metromile's planned H2 US expansion, as part of its target to be available nationwide by the end of 2022.

Since being founded, Metromile has received significant investment from China Pacific Insurance, Acequia Capital (Acecap) and New Enterprise Associates, amongst others.

In November 2021 Lemonade announced it was acquiring Metromile in an all stock transaction expected to close in Q2 2022. Metromile expects to enhance Lemonade's Lemonade Car offering through the use of its data science-driven technology platform.

In July 2022 Lemonade completed the acquisition of Metromile for $145M in stock - 70% below original valuation. The share-based merger was first announced nine months ago, when Metromile's market cap stood at $400M and the deal valued it at $500M, however both companies have seen a decrease in share prices. Just a few days after completion, Lemonade announced it was laying off around 20% of Metromile's staff, and selling Metromile's enterprise business solutions platform to EIS.