Lemonade was founded by Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger, in April 2015. Dan Ariely joined in 2017 as the Chief Behavioral Officer at Lemonade.
Funding
In December 2015, Lemonade Inc. announced that it secured $13 million in seed funding from Sequoia Capital and Aleph. In August 2016, Lemonade Inc. raised $13 million in funding from XL Innovate, followed by a $34 million Series B funding round in December of the same year. The Series B round was led by General Catalyst with participation from Thrive Capital, Tusk Ventures, and GV, the VC arm of Google's parent companyAlphabet Inc. In April 2017, the company announced additional investors: Allianz SE and Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures. In December 2017, Softbank invested an additional $120 million in Lemonade in a Series C round, increasing the total money raised by the company to around $180 million. In April 2019, Lemonade announced a further $300 million investment in a Series D financing led by the SoftBank Group, with participation from Allianz, General Catalyst, GV, OurCrowd, and Thrive Capital, increasing the total money raised by the company to $480 million.
Financials
Lemonade underwrites its own policies and is reinsured at Lloyd’s of London. In 2020, Ohio-based financial analysis firm Demotech rated Lemonade’s financial stability as A-Exceptional.
On June 8, 2020, Lemonade filed an S-1 form for registration of securities in preparation for an Initial public offering. On July 1, 2020, Lemonade Inc. priced 11 million shares at $29.00 per share on the NYSE. Shares began trading on July 2, 2020 under the ticker symbol LMND.
Business model
Lemonade’s business model differs from that of typical insurance companies in that it keeps a flat 25% fee of a customer’s premium while setting aside the remaining 75% to pay claims and purchase reinsurance. Unclaimed premiums go to a nonprofit of the user’s choosing in an annual “Giveback.”
Technology
Lemonade uses chatbots to provide insurance policies and handle claims. In 2016, a customer filed a claim for a stolen coat; after answering a few questions on the app and recording a report on their iPhone, Lemonade's claims bot set a world record by reviewing, approving and paying the claim in three seconds.
Social good
Lemonade Inc. which is registered as a public benefit corporation, has a stated mission of ‘transforming insurance from a necessary evil into a social good." Upon signing up for Lemonade, users select a nonprofit or charity that will receive payouts on an annual basis from the unclaimed premiums of their respective cohort. In May 2016, Lemonade became one of the only insurance companies to receive B-Corporation certification.