A South West business has been recognised by Google for Startups.
Fair and transparent renters’ insurance firm Husmus is one-of-10 UK-based start-ups selected for this year's £3.3m Black Founders Fund.
Now in its third year the fund aims to help tackle systemic racial inequality in venture capital funding by providing equity-free grants and mentoring to early stage Black-led high-growth businesses across Europe and Africa. Prior to the 2021 launch less than 0.25% of VC funding went to Black-led start-ups in the UK.
Since its launch in Google for Start-ups has invested more than £3m in 46 UK-based start-ups. Across Europe, these start-ups have since gone on to raise more than £87m in follow-on funding and increase their headcount by 21%.
Mariama Boumanjal, Google for Startups Black Founders fund manager for Europe and Africa said: “The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund aims to address the stark inequality in VC funding by driving the changes needed within the tech ecosystem to give these start-ups an equal chance of success.
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“Since launching in 2021, the fund has consistently demonstrated its impact enabling Black-led startups working across a range of sectors to scale their businesses, creating jobs and contributing to economic growth."
Each successful start-up will be given up to £119,000 in non-dilutive cash awards, up to £158,000 in cloud credits, ad support, 1:1 mentoring by industry experts, and connections within Google’s network.
Dorset-based Husmus, is a new kind of fair and transparent renters' insurance for how we rent in the modern world.
Co-founder and chief executive, Sarah Werner, told BusinessLive: "The equity-free funding is fantastic and will enable us to hire the staff needed to provide better experiences for our users.
"The biggest win, and what the team and I are most excited about, is gaining access to Google for Startups' expertise and network. It's no secret that Google only hires the best of the best, and their products make life easier for millions of people. With insights and mentoring from their experts, we hope to achieve the same level of success."
The business, which has its headquarters in Poole said its biggest challenges since launching in 2021 has been convincing insurance companies to try something new and financing the venture.
Ms Werner explained: "It requires a village of people who believe in your vision of the future and are prepared to put their time, energy and capital into seeing you succeed. However, as a young black female leader, especially in financial services, your presence is unusual. In a world where investment decisions are more art than science, investors are rarely prepared provide capital to people who do not look like them or mirror their life experiences.
"We mainly bootstrapped our business but that was not entirely by choice. Less than 40 black founders have raised VC capital. It’s not an accident, it’s by design. As a result we’ve had to work even harder to achieve the same outcomes as our peers with a fraction of the budget. That's why Google for Startups' Black Founders Fund is so important and impactful. If you want to know what resilience looks like, look no further than a black founder."
Husmus uses personalised data to drive smarter decision making. The company endeavours to provide smooth journeys for renters, either in the form of an embedded purchase journey or by improving the post-purchase customer experience.
Ms Werner said: "These are often achieved using new methods in artificial intelligence. When we first started, skepticism was high. Both insurance companies and our end users wondered how techniques like machine learning could improve their every day. Now it seems like artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is the hottest topic among founders and investors."
With funding from Google Ms Werner commented: "In the immediate term we are focused on releasing our new product lines that will provide cover for pet owners to rent homes more easily, and scaling our platform to deal with millions of monthly users. After that, global domination! We won't stop until every household can access the financial products they need to improve the way they live."
Ms Werner is one of only a few Black women in senior leadership in the fintech industry.
She told BusinessLive: "I was at an insurance conference recently and I stood out as one of the few female faces let alone minority ones. There's a lot of research that confirms that profitability is improved with increased diversity. Not to mention that it's impossible to build products that serve everyone without input from everyone."
She went on to explain, in her opinion, what needs to happen: "There are several positive steps that can be taken. In the start-up ecosystem the bluntest tool available is tax incentives. Encourage investment in underrepresented founders by making it more tax efficient to do so. For corporations, I'd like to see more effort put into supporting and promoting minority hires into senior positions. There’s no point bringing in the graduates if you run them out of the organisation within a few years."
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m delighted to see some of our most inventive Black entrepreneurs recognised by this programme and receiving the funding they need to grow their enterprises.
“Initiatives like the Black Founders Fund showcase how innovation and diversity go hand-in-hand to create positive change and growth opportunities helping to build a fairer and more prosperous future for all.”
Full 2023 UK Black Founders list:
- Anansi (UK) - a digitised insurance broker delivering embedded goods in transit insurance to retailers.
- Baselime (UK) - helping software engineers resolve bugs faster in the age of serverless computing.
- Earlybird (UK) - software for employability providers combining voice technology and conversational AI to help providers deliver better quality, scalable support to frequently overlooked jobseekers.
- Gravity Sketch ( UK) – a virtual 3D design platform revolutionising the way we bring ideas to life and fundamentally changing the way 3D design is done today.
- Husmus (UK) – a new kind of fair and transparent renters’ insurance for how we rent in the modern world, covering tenant risk to help make renting more affordable.
- MyoMaster (UK) - enabling everyday athletes to improve their performance and prevent injury.
- Research Grid Ltd (UK) - intelligently streamlines medical research processes from months to minutes to reduce inefficiency and inaccessibility.
- Slinger (UK) - a platform that addresses the UK’s hospitality worker shortage by connecting the UK’s 10.3 million frontline workers to Living Wage opportunities.
- Tangent (UK) - leverages video technology, generative AI and a dynamic marketplace to connect traditionally overlooked talent to tech employees for an employee referral.
- Upskill Digital (UK) - committed to reducing the global digital skills gap by providing accessible learning support to those who need it most.
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