We sat down with Jamie Hamer, CEO of Loxa (formerly known as Bolt Cover) who successfully raised £125,000 with AIN. Founded in 2023 Insurtech firm Loxa is bridging the “protection gap” in the UK retail market. He reveals their innovative embedded insurance model, how they’re leveraging insurtech trends to offer seamless, repair-first solutions, their ambitious plans for the future after a successful seed funding round and his fundraising tips for other founders.
Tell us about Loxa and how you came up with the idea?
Loxa (formerly known as Bolt Cover) was founded in 2023 by myself, COO Tori Hutchinson, and CTO Richard Smith. The idea emerged from recognising a massive gap in the market where everyday purchases go unprotected, whilst traditional insurers struggle to distribute insurance at the point of sale and retailers lack the necessary tools to offer protection.
We all have complementary skillsets. I bring a proven track record in scaling ventures (having co-founded and exited React News after driving it to £10 million+ in revenue) and experience with major corporates like Procter & Gamble and Gartner. Tori Hutchinson draws from senior roles in global companies like Cirque du Soleil and Monica Vinader, whilst Richard Smith has delivered high-performing digital solutions for top brands like L’Oréal and the Department for Education.
We identified that many consumers wanted repair-first solutions but lacked access to affordable, transparent product protection. We created Loxa to ensure the future of retail includes fair, transparent, seamless product protection for your most valuable assets.
What is the problem the business is looking to solve?
We saw how Extend and Cover Genius (to name a few) have executed embedded product protection with great success abroad, and without there being a cross product-category provider evident (yet) here in the UK, we had confidence of the market demand and fit before we got started.
There is a massive protection gap in the UK market. Research reveals several critical issues:
Financial Vulnerability: One in ten people in the UK have no cash savings at all, with a further 21% having less than £1,000 to fall back on in an emergency. Yet only 6.6% have adequate insurance cover for high-value items.
Consumer Preferences Misaligned: When asked why they repair products instead of replacing them, 58% said to save money, 48% said to extend the lifespan of the item, 38% cited environmental reasons, and 33% wanted to avoid overconsumption. In fact, 81% of consumers believe businesses should actively encourage repair rather than replacement.
Distribution Challenges: Traditional insurers struggle to effectively distribute insurance at the point of sale, whilst retailers lack the tools and expertise to offer embedded protection solutions.
Trust Issues: The insurance industry suffers from transparency and trust issues, with consumers often feeling that protection products don’t deliver real value when needed.
What specific trends in insurtech have created the underserved opportunity you address, and how does Loxa’s model uniquely address them?
Several key insurtech trends have created our opportunity:
Product Insurance Growth: The shift towards embedding insurance directly into customer purchase journeys has accelerated in other consumer lines, but most similar solutions to Loxa are either category-specific (e.g. furniture only) or require heavy technical integration.
Sustainability Focus: Consumers increasingly prefer repair over replacement, creating demand for protection that extends product lifecycles rather than just replacing items.
API-First Technology: The rise of flexible, API-driven insurance platforms enables seamless integration without operational complexity for retailers.
Machine Learning: Combining AI with robust governance allows for intelligent, automated product categorisation and pricing with reduced operational risk from human error.
Loxa’s model uniquely addresses these trends by offering:
- Cross-category solution: Unlike competitors focused on single product categories, our flexible system allows us to (theoretically) q&b for any consumer product. We already cover furniture, eyewear, tools, and bicycles, with more schemes on the way soon.
- Rapid integration: Our native Shopify and Magento apps enable retailer integration in under 24 hours, with flexible API connections for any website or point-of-sale system
- Automated technology: Our proprietary platform uses AI to allocate relevant insurance categorisation to a product range and instantly generate current premiums
- Repair-first approach: We focus on transparent, fair cover centred on delivering real value through repair rather than replacement
What attracted investors to the business?
We were thrilled to successfully raise £1.69 million in a Seed funding round, with £125,000 coming from Angel Investment Network. Investors were attracted by several key factors:
Proven Market Demand: The compelling statistics showing 78% of shoppers would buy more goods if offered insurance at checkout, and 83% of customers who buy protection are likely to become repeat purchasers.
Strong Founding Team: My track record of building and exiting React News, combined with Tori’s global corporate experience and Richard’s technical expertise, demonstrated execution capability.
Scalable Technology: Our proprietary platform that automates insurance categorisation, pricing, policy issuance, and administration without requiring operational complexity from retailers.
Large Market Opportunity: The vision to become the UK’s leading provider in the underserved B2B2C insurance retail market, with plans to offer a consumer product-specific alternative to traditional home insurance by 2026.
Commercial Traction: We now have 30 trading retailers and a pipeline including enterprise-grade retailer to integrate
Why did you raise via Angel Investment Network?
I was fortunate to meet Alex Caparros, senior broker at AIN at a networking event. We instantly saw the value of working together. It is worth noting that Angel Investment Network provided strategic value beyond just capital. The process can be fraught but partnering with the right investors, like those we found through AIN, makes all the difference.
AIN offered:
- Streamlined Process: Their platform made connecting with multiple qualified investors more efficient than traditional fundraising routes
- Strategic Alignment: Investors who shared our vision for transforming the product protection market
Ongoing Support: Long-term partners rather than just capital sourcers
AIN offered:
- Streamlined Process: Their platform made connecting with multiple qualified investors more efficient than traditional fundraising routes
- Strategic Alignment: Investors who shared our vision for transforming the product protection market
- Ongoing Support: Long-term partners rather than just capital sourcers
What will you do with the funds raised from investors during this round?
The £1.69 million will be deployed across three key areas:
Scalable Technology Expansion: Enhancing our API integrations and developing additional plugins beyond our current Shopify, PrestaShop, and Magento offerings.
D2C Upsell Offerings: Strengthening our direct-to-consumer capabilities, starting with a comprehensive power tool protection scheme that will serve as a model for other categories.
Market Expansion: Building towards our goal of offering a consumer product-specific alternative to traditional home insurance by 2026.
How have you found fundraising in the present climate?
From our own experience in pitching and having multiple conversations with investors, the current fundraising environment requires:
Strong Unit Economics: Investors are more focused than ever on clear paths to profitability and strong commercial metrics.
Proven Traction: Having concrete evidence of market demand and commercial results made our conversations much more productive.
Clear Vision: Articulating not just the problem but the specific path to becoming market leader was crucial for investor confidence.
What are your top tips for anyone raising for the first time?
Focus on the Right Investors: Don’t just chase any capital; find investors who understand your market and can add strategic value beyond money. Over half of our investors come from an insurance or retail background.
Prepare Thoroughly: Have your metrics, market research, and competitive analysis completely dialled in before starting conversations. A detailed financial model and customer contracts/LOIs were key.
Leverage Platforms: Use established networks like Angel Investment Network rather than trying to build investor relationships from scratch.
Be Transparent: Honest communication about challenges and how you plan to address them builds more trust than perfect-sounding pitches.
Start Early: The process always takes longer than expected, so begin fundraising well before you need the capital. We started the process over 12 months before completing the raise.
What are the key strategic milestones or market indicators you’re looking to achieve in the next 12-18 months that will demonstrate a clear path to sustainable profitability?
Technology Milestones:
- Complete plug and play solutions for all major e-commerce platforms and point-of-sale systems
- Launch email and SMS follow-up for customers who don’t purchase insurance in the first instance
- Achieve sub-24-hour integration time for new retailer partners
Commercial Milestones:
- Reach 100+ active retailer partners across our key categories
- Achieve £500K+ in annual recurring revenue from embedded insurance sales
- Demonstrate 10%+ increase in retailer conversion rates and customer lifetime value from including insurance
Market Expansion:
- Launch comprehensive D2C tool scheme with 1,000+ products covered
- Expand into 2 additional product categories beyond furniture, eyewear, tools, and bicycles
Path to Profitability:
- Achieve positive unit economics on all new retailer partnerships
- Demonstrate clear scalability with automated onboarding reducing customer acquisition costs by 50%
- Build towards our 2026 goal of offering consumer product-specific alternatives to traditional home insurance
Loxa remains open to further strategic investment from organisations that can accelerate our mission positioning us for continued growth as we execute on these milestones. We invite investors who believe in this mission to connect with us.
Are you looking for an angel investor to help fund your business? Join us at Angel Investment Network, where global investors meet the great businesses of tomorrow.
