Guros, an insurance technology platform, plans to transform the experience of buying insurance in Latin America.
The company began operations in 2013, first as Seguros ARCA, which evolved into Guros in November 2020. The company’s wallet platform gives policyholders the ability to save all of their insurance information in one digital location, and it enables car owners to track taxes, speeding tickets and driving restrictions free of charge.
“We decided that we needed to do something to change the way insurances were held, sold and perceived in Mexico,” said Juan Manuel Gironella, co-founder and CEO of Guros. “For example, in Mexico, only 30% of the automobiles have an insurance [policy], although it’s mandatory.”
The company discovered three main problems in the insurance market in Mexico. People lacked information about insurance plans, the potential benefits, and how they could save money in terms of healthcare, legal services and other areas.
Another problem was the poor experiences many individuals had with insurance products that were sold through what Gironella calls an invasive and unpleasant purchasing process involving multiple phone calls. And the slow, agent-heavy process consumers face when trying to buy insurance.
“The insurance experience is completely broken and fragmented, so we decided to do it 100% digital, mobile-friendly, and with the best experience possible,” Gironella said. “We know that Mexican users are relentless in purchasing products and services online. But since the pandemic started, we noticed that more and more services were online, and having great success—food, healthcare, streaming, etc.—so, why not insurances?”
With its technology, Guros can show users an insurance quote for cars with the ability to modify and personalize it to meet their needs, Gironella said.
“We’re developing a platform where any user—even if they’re not a Guros client—can login, put all their car’s information, and keep track of speeding tickets and other pending fees to be paid, the insurance policy, and more,” Gironella said.
The platform allows insurance buyers to receive an auto insurance quote and compare between the leading available insurance products in less than one minute.
Through its proprietary application programming interfaces, Guros aggregates information from various insurers in a standardized and simplified manner. This makes it possible for commercial partners of the company to embed an auto insurance purchasing capability into their platforms.
Guros in July 2021 received a financial boost—$5.8 million in seed funding—that the company says will be used to strengthen the platform’s capabilities, build up the Guros technology team, expand into the health insurance market, and enhance APIs for commercial partners.
The investment round, at a $30 million valuation, was led by F-Prime Capital and Cometa, with participation from other investors. The funding will help the company grow internally and achieve its goals, Gironella said. Guros is planning to launch new alliances during the fourth quarter of 2021, and others at the beginning of 2022, Gironella said. It also plans to introduce new features in the platform.
There is a unique opportunity to become the leading marketplace and tech-enabler for Latin America’s more than $400 billion insurance market, Gironella said.
One of the priorities in the coming months will be to expand the technical team, which currently includes about 40 people and Guros wants to at least double that.
“Each day we keep increasing our needs for more testing, more projects, [and] new technologies, so we need the best team,” Gironella said. “We know that anything is possible with the right team. The pandemic has forced us to work remotely, and it has helped us to expand our team not only in Mexico City, where we’re based but in other states.”
The company is also looking to increase its partnerships.
Guros developed the APIs so partners can work with the technology to deliver their insurance tools.
“Mexico is quickly becoming the epicenter for fintech solutions, [and] there is an urgent need for API solutions in every insurance vertical,” Gironella said. “We’re working with Kavak, Crédito Real, Albo, just to name a few. … But we want to be part of more alliances.”
