Helping start-up expand with £12m investment

Venture capital investor Jonathan Kruger has led a Series B* funding round that raised around £12m for pet insurance firm Napo.

Jonathan (OE 2000–2007) is an Investment Associate with Mercia Ventures, a £2bn fund that is one of the one of the UK’s most active VC capital investors.

Before joining Mercia two years ago, he spent three years at Google, supporting high-growth seed-stage businesses with go-to-market strategy and execution. And before that, he co-founded and scaled his own VC-backed direct-to-consumer business, The Drop, which uses machine-learning to produce on-demand made-to-measure men’s fashion.

Napo was founded in 2021 by Ludovic Lacay, a Product Lead at global internet giant Meta, and Jean-Philippe Doumeng, an executive at former health service provider Babylon Health.

The funding will enable it to scale further, including making further investment in its AI-driven claims process and other technology.

Jonathan said he was very excited to have led the funding round and was “looking forward to working with Jean-Philippe Doumeng, Ludovic Lacay and their incredible team for the next stage of the journey”.

*Series B funding is the third round of equity financing for start-ups. At this stage, the company has found product-market fit and needs capital to scale. The goal is to expand into new markets, develop new product lines, and prepare for potential exits. Investors provide capital in exchange for preferred shares.
Investopedia.com