Data is the lifeblood of insurance. It helps power the underwriting models that inform the premiums people pay, and insurers are thirsty for new sources of data that can give them an advantage in pricing.

In motor insurance, one of these sources is telematics. These are devices that track data points about how one drives, rewarding safer drivers with lower prices – essentially making a vehicle “connected”. In personal lines (insurance for individuals in a private capacity), telematics adoption has been slow, owing to a reticence from customers to have their driving “judged,” so adoption has mostly centred on groups whose premiums are generally very high anyway, such as young drivers.

In commercial lines (insurance for business or professional use), notably motor fleet insurance, this dynamic is very different. This area is seeing an explosion in the adoption of telematics, as fleet decision-makers find ways of improving drivers’ safety, security, and operational efficiency, as well as reducing fleet costs. The direction of travel is strongly in favour of vehicles connected through telematics, further accelerated by the transition towards electric vehicles where this data is key for helping managers optimise their fleets, allowing them to, for example, time the recharging of vehicles to coincide with drivers’ breaks to maximise productivity.

Traditional insurers are incredible at managing the complex business of insurance, but they have an Achilles heel: technology. They tend to be built on legacy, and often decades-old, technology infrastructure, and spend a significant proportion of their technology resources on maintaining these systems. That leaves very little time for either innovation or adoption of new technologies.

Knowing this general difficulty traditional insurers face and being aware of the remarkable opportunities opened up by the new data sources that have emerged as the world transitions to connected vehicles, we were on the hunt for the innovators perfectly placed to win in this new world. Enter Flock.

Flock is an insurtech managing general agent, providing connected insurance for commercial motor fleets. Flock ingests the connected car data, and uses this to help commercial motor fleets identify, understand, quantify, and mitigate risks, incentivising them with lower insurance premiums. But Flock provides more than just insurance. They also offer the tools fleet managers need to help make their fleets safer and reward them for making safety improvements. These tools include notifications if cars are being used for unauthorised purposes,  guidance on safer routes than those commonly used by drivers, and identifying the drivers making the most serious contributions  to the fleet’s overall risk level.

We’ve been following Flock founders Ed Leon Klinger and Antton Peña for a number of years, and have been blown away by their thoughtfulness, adaptability and ability to attract incredible talent. This, coupled with the momentum Flock has built up behind remarkable growth (over the last 12 months in particular) made us leap on the opportunity to join them, and offer our support for the next phase of their business’s growth journey. We’re proud to be leading their £30m series B round, alongside CommerzVentures, and existing investors Social Capital, Anthemis, Dig Ventures and Foresight.

Flock’s mission to help make fleets safer through adopting connected car technologies is revolutionary. We’re excited to support them as they start expanding their tyre-print in other verticals and geographies.