Kota raises $14.5m in funding to grow business
insurance
benefits platform
Kota
, formerly known as
Yonder
, has raised $14.5 million (€12.8 million) in funding to bring globally accessible and frictionless employment benefits for employees
That brings the total funding raised by the company to $22.9 million over three rounds.
The new Series A round was led by Eurazeo, with existing investors EQT Ventures, Northzone and Frontline Ventures taking part. New investors 9Yards and Plug and Play also contributed to the round.
'Kota really stood out to us,' said Eurazeo's Elise Stern. 'With a tech-first approach, they've built a robust technical and financial infrastructure: deep integrations with insurers across dozens of countries, visibility across the benefits stack, and a seamless API that allows partners – from HRIS to payroll – to embed benefits natively.'
READ MORE
Kota will use the funding to expand its reach into more markets, increase the variety of insurance carrier partners in its products, and also grow its team.
'We're pretty ambitious. Our team is mainly made-up of engineers and specialists in things like some insurance and compliance. So we're doubling down there,' said CEO Luke Mackey.
'Where we invested a lot is making sure that we built the best engineering and product teams, best integrations teams and building great relationships with insurance companies. We have a small sales team in Dublin, we've expanded that team into the UK now. We have offices in Dublin and London, and we're hiring.'
Kota is aiming to simplify health and pension benefits for global businesses and employees.
'Europe is exceptionally complex when it comes to insurance and that obviously feeds into benefits and the providers remain very fragmented country to country,' Mr Mackey said.
'The regulators are different. That just creates a lot of complexity, creates a lot of costs. That means that brokers are still the route into [the] market for small companies.
'What we're trying to do is build that underlying infrastructure, bring the insurance companies more online and make them easy and accessible in a very user-friendly way.'
The company has also obtained its Central Bank of Ireland authorisation, with Mr Mackey saying it allowed the company to scale outside of Ireland, and passport across 30 European countries.
The company is also expecting a boost from pension autoenrolment, which is due to begin next year.
Founded in 2022 by Mr Mackey, chief technology officer Patrick O'Boyle and director of engineering Deepak Baliga, Kota began offering its services in 2023, and has since facilitated access to employee benefits for hundreds of small and medium sized companies.
'We're at a critically low level of housing stock' for buyers and renters
Listen |
33:06
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Public warned to avoid e-cigarettes from two brands after EU health alert
The HSE's National Environmental Health Service (NEHS) is warning the public to stop using e-cigarettes from two differentbrands as they are wrongly labelled as containing no nicotine. The products, for which European Safety Alerts have been issued, were found to contain nicotine at concentrations up to 30 mg/ml, following analysis by the State Laboratory. The products involved are: McKesse MK Bar 700, blueberry, blackcurrant mango and blueberry pear flavours; and Bank Box 18000 Puffs, watermelon ice, strawberry watermelon and blueberry ice flavours. People can return them to the shop where they were bought and retailers have been asked to stop selling them. READ MORE HSE principal environmental health officer Margaret Ruddy said: 'In response to finding non-compliant and unsafe products on the Irish market, the HSE National Environmental Health Service will continue to exercise its full legal powers to protect public health, this includes product seizure, product destruction and prosecutions. 'Retailers should be checking both the products themselves and their suppliers' details before selling them on to consumers.' Retailers who sold or distributed the products have been told to display a recall notice on their premises or on social media.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Occupied Territories Bill ‘blatant anti-Semitism', says influential US senator
A senior United States politician has accused the Republic of going down a 'hateful, anti-Semitic path'. US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Senator Jim Risch said the Occupied Territories Bill 'will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering' for the State. Writing on X, the veteran Republican senator who represents Idaho, said: 'Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering. Ireland, while often a valuable U.S. partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering. If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties. We will always stand up to… — Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman (@SenateForeign) 'If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties. We will always stand up to blatant antisemitism.' READ MORE Senator Risch linked to an article in the Jerusalem Post, which stated that the Republic is the first country in Europe to introduce legislation to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Senator Risch previously raised the issue of the State's relationship with Israel in his role as committee chairman. Speaking at the confirmation hearings for US president Donald Trump's new ambassador to the Republic, Ed Walsh, in May, Senator Risch said it was 'heartbreaking to see the mistake that the Irish are making regarding the Jewish state and Hamas'. 'It's heartbreaking with zero recognition of what Hamas did on October 7th. I truly hope, Mr Walsh, that this is going to be a tough needle to thread when you got a close ally making a mistake, but you have got to thread that needle.' Senator Risch told Mr Walsh to convey a message to the Republic that the State is 'very much out of step with the United States as far as their relationship with those countries in the Middle East'. Mr Walsh said he was looking at getting a detailed brief on the issues relating to this. 'President Trump has been very clear that Ireland is an ally and there is no room for anti-Semitism across the world,' said Mr Walsh, who was confirmed as ambassador this week. 'It will be a big part of my conversations with them. I hear you. I do understand the issue.' Reacting to Senator Risch's X post, former Republic of Ireland ambassador to the United States Daniel Mulhall said he was sceptical that the Occupied Territories Bill can work, 'but I do not see it as an expression of anti-Semitism. Its roots lie in a genuine sympathy for the plight of Palestinians rather than in any antipathy towards Israelis.'
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Global shares little changed after UK market rout
Global shares were largely unchanged on Wednesday after unexpectedly weak US labour market data and a rout in British markets as speculation grew about UK chancellor Rachel Reeves' political future. Dublin The Iseq index moved 0.2 per cent higher, led by Ryanair and the main Irish banks. The airline jumped 0.7 per cent to €23.99 per share after reporting a 3 per cent rise in passenger numbers for June. On a rolling 12-month basis to the end of December, traffic rose 7 per cent compared to the previous year, reaching 202.6 million, Ryanair said. Meanwhile, Bank of Ireland and AIB added 0.7 per cent each to close at €11.97 per share and €6.83 respectively. Kingspan also advanced, adding 0.8 per cent to €72.20. Moving in the opposite direction, Glanbia gave up some of its recent momentum, slipping 0.4 per cent to close at €12.77 per share. Kerry Group also slid by 0.9 per cent to €93.45. London UK stocks lagged their European counterparts, while gilts and the British pound sold off after Keir Starmer initially declined to back his tearful chancellor at prime minister's questions in Westminster. The benchmark FTSE 100 slid by just over 0.1 per cent while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.3 per cent. Oil and gas companies gain in line with rising commodities prices with Shell jumping more than 1.6 per cent and BP advancing by more than 3.1 per cent. The mid-cap index was led lower by Bytes Technology Group after the software company issued a profit warning. Greggs also plunged after it said its full-year profit may be lower than last year as high temperatures in June discouraged people from eating out. Spectris Plc jumped as much as 5.3 per cent after KKR offered to buy the British company at £40 per share. Europe Fuelled by a flurry of deals, European stocks rose in the early part of the session but turned lower after the US jobs data release. The Stoxx 600 index closed marginally higher, while the blue-chip Stoxx 50 finished up more than 0.7 per cent. Banco Sabadell rose as much as 5.5 per cent after Banco Santander agreed to buy its TSB business for €3 billion. Banks advanced across the board, with Dutch lender ING up 1.7 per cent, France's BNP Paribas up 1.9 per cent, and Sabadell's domestic Spanish rival Santander ahead by more than 2 per cent. Elsewhere, shares in Hellenic Exchanges surged close to 15 per cent, the most since 2020, as Euronext announced it was in talks to buy the Athens stock market operator New York US stocks were flat, erasing pre-market losses after a report showing an unexpected decline in employment raised concerns of slowing economic growth in advance of a more widely followed gauge of labour due Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent after US president Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Vietnam with furniture stocks and apparel makers recording gains. Nike and Lululemon also jumped to hit session highs. Among single-stock movers, Tesla shares rose 2.80 per cent as the company saw its first increase in vehicle deliveries from its Shanghai factory this year. Centene tumbled 35.85 per cent after the health insurer pulled its 2025 guidance, citing insurance market trends that veered from its assumptions and threaten $1.8 billion in revenue. Apple shares ticked higher 2.10 per cent after Jefferies raised its recommendation on the tech giant to hold from underperform. Elsewhere, stocks of some of Wall Street's largest lenders including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America rose after banks boosted their dividends. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters
