Insurtech business swoops for global refund protection partner

Cover Genius, an insurtech provider for embedded insurance, has acquired Booking Protect, a Leeds-based specialist in embedded ticket protection for ticket sellers, platforms and live event companies.

The deal enables Cover Genius to expand its presence in the ticketing and live entertainment market.

It means ticketing platforms, small-to-mid-sized ticket sellers, events and venues and Booking Protect’s 350 plus partners can offer embedded ticket protection worldwide through XCover, Cover Genius’s end-to-end global distribution platform.

Simon Mabb, CEO at Booking Protect, said: “We started Booking Protect to provide peace of mind to customers who are buying tickets via sellers and events and their upstream ticketing platforms, especially small-to-midsize players.

“With the pandemic exposing the need for comprehensive coverage, we believe now is the time to join forces with Cover Genius to scale our technologies and expand the reach of our mission.

“We look forward to continuing to serve our partners and help businesses provide a seamless customer experience in their time of need.”

Angus McDonald, CEO and co-founder of Cover Genius, added: “We’ve seen significant growth in attach rates and customer satisfaction metrics for ticketing partners like AXS, so we’re excited to apply those learnings and utilize our platform approach in order to supercharge the exceptional foundational work from the talented Booking Protect team.

“It’s a natural fit for us to team up with established leaders in specialty fields like ticketing who have built a great service and end-to-end solution at the expense of traditional insurers whose legacy systems contribute to poor customer outcomes and stunted growth for partners.

“While Cover Genius remains focused on enterprise partners like AXS, we recognise that there’s a huge addressable market out there, so acquisitions like this set us to be able to go deep within highly attractive verticals like ticketing.”