Connected Car and InsurTech platform startup Jooycar raises $3 million investment from HCS Capital for international expansion to the U.S. and Latin America

Jooycar, the leading Connected Car and Insurtech platform in Latin America has closed a $3 million investment HCS Capital Partners, a Miami-based private equity and operating firm. The investment will help Jooycar for its ambitious international expansion to the U.S. and across Latin America. This InsurTech investment marks the most recent for HCS, as they continue to deploy capital from their Tech Fund 1 into InsurTech and FinTech opportunities in the U.S. and South America.

Founded in 2014 by Emilio Figueroa and María Paz Gillet, the Santiago, Chile-based Jooycar, is the leading connected car platform in Latin America. Its telematic based technology leverages real-time big data sourced from cars to deliver enhanced end-user services (B2C) and create new business opportunities for insurance and automotive industry (B2B), we use the power of telematics to deliver an enhanced experience for their customers and offer connected insurances and smart services with added value.

The startup provides a car connected platform and services, using telematics and machine learning to develop usage-based insurance (UBI) products for commercial and personal lines. They combine data collected from devices plugged into the car, as well as a mobile app, to deliver high quality rich data about the driver and vehicle. This data includes real time vehicle information, customized maintenance reporting, loss prevention, detailed driver risk assessment and scoring, driving patterns, route optimization etc.

Jooycar’s platform offers a unique value proposition for South American car owners, a region with a disproportionately high number of uninsured drivers (beyond mandatory coverage). Pricing policies is often very difficult and premiums can be cost prohibitive for most car owners. Jooycar has been able to leverage the technology backend and offer a usage-based insurance platform (UBI) to attract customers via a pay per mile option. This added flexibility has incentivized many to subscribe to car insurance for the first time and led to explosive growth over the past 3 years. Jooycar has seen 400% annual growth and will have nearly 40 million kilometers processed on their platform by the end of the year in Chile alone. This round of funding will allow Jooycar to capitalize on the success in Latin America and expand to the U.S., a $280 billion annual auto insurance premium market.

HCS Capital CEO, Alex Horvitz stated, “We have continued to be impressed by Jooycar’s achievements over the past 3 years. Their impressive platform, which will allow them to rapidly scale, combined with their team and vision for growth in the U.S. and Latin American markets is an exciting combination and we are proud to be a part of Jooycar’s growth and U.S. expansion.”

María Paz Gillet, founder of Jooycar, added: “We chose HCS Capital over other investors due to their hands-on experience in InsurTech digital platforms. They are a strategic partner with the will, industry knowledge and resources to actively support the globalization of our company.

HCS Capital Partners specializes in identifying unique opportunities within established markets that are being disrupted by technology and take active roles in portfolio companies by leveraging over 25 years of deep industry knowledge and transformation management experience. They take majority and minority positions in companies located in the U.S. and Latin America, who operate technology enabled platforms in Insurance and Financial Services. Their portfolio includes fast growing companies like Figo Pet Insurance, the leading Insurtech platform in the US Pet space. HCS closed the initial tranche for HCS Tech Fund I, and its currently raising additional capital for their debut fund.

JooyCar Team