Fruga, a Manchester-based InsurTech scaleup that uses open banking to lower insurance renewal premiums, has secured £1m in funding. The investment comes from NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, which PXN Ventures manages as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), and from Haatch. Funds will be used to expand its technology, grow its workforce and help consumers pay less for their yearly insurance.
Fruga’s platform lets policyholders connect a bank account, credit card or debit card to their insurance policy through open banking. Whenever they spend with selected partners in travel, groceries and high street retail, they accumulate “insurance credits” that grow over time and are applied as a discount at renewal. These credits are frequently worth more than £150 and are designed to deliver value across the life of the policy, not just when a claim is made or renewal is due.
Money Expert is among the businesses already working with Fruga. Its customers can collect insurance credits each time they shop with partner brands, building up savings to reduce insurance bills, which remain among the biggest costs facing households. Fruga also allows insurers to integrate the technology under their own branding, giving them access to transaction data and the ability to engage customers all year round. For example, if data shows a policyholder buying pet supplies, an insurer can offer pet insurance before that customer turns to a comparison website.
Fruga built its offering after recognising that insurance could benefit from an ongoing value layer and open banking in a similar way to consumer banks such as Monzo and Revolut. This approach enables insurers to hand perks to customers while using data to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and behaviour. With the backing of two established investors, Fruga intends to expand its workforce, with key appointments expected during Q1 2027, and aims to grow its client base, having built a pipeline of well-known household insurers and managing general agents.
Insurers hold some of the biggest customer bases in the country, yet the industry has trained those customers to see their policy as a price and nothing more. Every renewal sends them back to the comparison sites, and the insurer that wins them this year loses them the next. We started Fruga to take customers out of that aggregator cycle and put real value back at the heart of the relationship. Customer value and data insights is what makes that possible. With open banking, an insurer can understand its customers better than anyone else: what’s changing in their lives, what they need next, and how to reward them every day, not just at renewal. That turns renewal from a price check into a reason to stay. This investment means we can bring in top talent to build that out, and our ambition is clear: to become the data layer that powers how UK insurers know, serve and keep their customers.
Insurance is a huge market, but the relationship between providers and their customers has remained largely unchanged for years. Most consumers only hear from their insurer when it’s time to renew, and price is often the deciding factor in whether they stay or switch. In response, Ross and Asaf have developed a proposition with clear commercial potential, and we’re looking forward to supporting them as they grow their team and bring the technology to more partners across the market.
