Protection platform for gig workers raises £3.3m

A start-up insurtech platform is being built to deliver protection products and benefits, such as family leave, sick pay, mental health support and critical injury pay, to gig economy workers.

Collective Benefits announced today the closing of £3.3m in funding from Stride.VC alongside existing investors Delin Ventures, Insurtech Gateway and angel investors that it said have experience in building the likes of Uber, Deliveroo, and Urban.

The start-up also said it is working with a number of on-demand service platforms to distribute products and a pooling proposition aimed at freelancers is planned for later this year.

Anthony Beilin, CEO and co-founder of Collective Benefits, said: "There are six million self-employed workers in the UK, which includes both higher-paid freelancers and gig economy platform workers. Yet, neither group typically has a safety net - no holiday pay, no family leave, no mental health support, not even paid sick days. We are building Collective Benefits so that the gig economy workers are covered by the same protections typically reserved for full-time employees."

Fred Destin, partner at Stride.VC, added: "We're seeing services platforms gain unstoppable momentum in every segment of our lives, from rides to food delivery to freelancing. We need a new playbook. Collective Benefits addresses one of the core challenges in this brave new world of work, using technology to design and deliver a new type of safety net to all the participants in this fast-growing part of our economy."

Robert Lumley, director and co-founder of Insurtech Gateway, added: "The insurance industry faces a massive challenge in keeping up with the extraordinary growth in self-employment. Collective Benefits has created entirely new insurance products for the self-employed not addressed by traditional insurers and accessible through a flexible tech platform that allows them to get the cover they need."

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• Topics
• Employee Benefits
• Group Protection
• Individual Protection
• Gig economy
• Collective Benefits