(The company would not disclose its valuation at that time, saying now only that its new valuation of over $1 billion is a “nice step up.”)
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$90 million.The Zebra, an Austin-based company that operates an insurance comparison site, has raised $150 million in a Series D round that propels it into unicorn territory.īoth the round size and valuation are a substantial bump from the $38.5 million Series C that Austin-based The Zebra raised in February of 2020. Among last year's largest funding rounds were: health technology company Everlywell, which raised $175 million biopharma company Shattuck Labs, which raised $118 million and edge computing company Vapor IO, which raised. The Zebra's funding deal also ranks among the largest for an Austin-based company since the start of 2020. More: Austin’s Everlywell lands $175 million for expansion The Zebra's $150 million funding round is the largest for an Austin-based company so far in 2021, surpassing the $110 million raised by e-commerce firm Jungle Scout in March. "Now it's time for that third phase: To really grow the business." "We proved the business model works particularly when we turn profitable, and we're still growing the company," Melnick said. More: Austin e-commerce firm Jungle Scout raises $110 million to continue growth The Zebra is on track to do the same, he said.
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Kayak built a great product, figured out how to get the business model to work and then expanded rapidly, he said. Melnick said he sees the success of Kayak - an online booking platform for the travel industry - as a blueprint on what's possible for the Zebra. quicker by getting more people in sooner," Melnick said. "I think we have a really good roadmap of what we want to do in terms of following along with that insurance advisor vision, now we can do more. It's predicting $150 million in revenue this year The company said it saw revenue climb in 2020 to $79 million, up from $37 million in 2019. Expanding its partnerships with insurance companies. Focusing on the product and becoming more of an "insurance advisor" that helps consumers understand the best insurance product and company for them. Reevaluating its marketing and its brand strategies, with more of a focus on explaining the product is and what the company's does. Melnick said company executives focused on three key areas: "So many things happened last year that definitely were not in the CEO handbook," Melnick said. The Zebra entered 2020 coming off a $38.5 million funding round with plans for expansion, but the pandemic did force the company to adjust and reevaluate priorities, Melnick said. More: Austin tech firm Quali raises $54 million, plans for growth He predicts that the company will hire at least 100 people throughout the year, in engineering, finance, commercial, and marketing teams. Melnick said the company is still looking to continue expanding. That year the company grew by about 60 to about 160 people.
In 2019, the Zebra moved to a new five-story 40,000 square foot office space on East Sixth Street. The executive had previously co-founded travel reservation site Kayak. The Zebra has seen rapid growth in recent years under Melnick, who became CEO in 2017. The company was founded in 2012 in Pittsburgh but relocated to Austin in 2013 after securing funding from Silverton Partners. The funding included investments from both new and existing investors, including Weatherford Capital and Accel. Executives said the funding will be spent in marketing, messaging and growing the company's brand, as well as continuing to build its employee team. The funding round is the biggest so far in 2021 for an Austin-based company. "There's still so much opportunity as a company and so much growth potential, I think there's a long runway for growing this company."
While I do think this is a milestone moment to become a unicorn, it still feels like one step along the path," CEO Keith Melnick said. "I am extremely happy with where the company has gone. The company also said it now has a valuation of more than $1 billion, which would give it status as a "unicorn," which is an industry term for a startup valued at over $1 billion. Watch Video: CEO excited to welcome Prince Harry to startupĪustin-based insurance startup the Zebra has raised $150 million in one of the biggest funding rounds of the year.
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