Meet the founders redefining travel insurance
Recognised by the leading Tech and Startup News website CTech, Faye is making sense of a notoriously complicated industry
First the good news: summer holidays are here. Now for the not so good news: travellers have already been facing delays, disruption and disturbances in the wake of the global IT outages. Back to some good news: an Israeli startup is offering real-time insurance to help keep your vacation plans worry-free.
Recently named Israel’s Most Promising Startup in 2024 by CTech, Faye is redefining the travel insurance landscape with its customer-centre approach and cutting-edge technology. In addition to offering standard comprehensive coverage and claims resolutions, Faye provides 24/7 travel assistance and help for common travel issues plus tips, telemedicine access and emergency help, as well as financial services including reimbursements and payment solutions via the Faye Wallet. There is also tech-led insights on flight delays and information.
Faye’s CEO and co-founder – and self-proclaimed travel lover – Elad Schaffer tells JN Business: “There are many pain points in this ecosystem (travel insurance) – it’s a space that has undergone little innovation.
“Faye is solving them and over delivering in a space synonymous with doing the opposite. Travel insurance tends to be chock-full of lengthy jargon-filled policies that leave travellers confused rather than well-informed. The claims process is slow and bureaucratic, requiring excessive paperwork and lengthy wait times. And there’s really no brand working to build strong connections with consumers, making travel insurance feel like a distant service that’s hard to reach. We created Faye as a solution to these headaches.”
Faye has raised $49m to date and picked up several awards en route. The company was named a top travel insurance provider by The Wall Street Journal, a top startup by LinkedIn, won the SKIFT Idea award for Product Design, Travel Weekly’s Award for Best Overall Travel Insurance and was picked out by CNBC as a a top travel insurance provider for families, in addition to achieving CTech’s most promising startup for 2024. Revenues grew ten-fold in the past year.
With offices in Israel and several in the US, Faye is currently focused on the US market but could soon be expanding to the UK and has ambitious plans this year including, hiring around 30 new ‘Faye-ers’, introducing new products, supporting scale through automation and seamless integrations, and forging new partnerships with top brands and distribution partners.
Not bad for a company that was launched in 2022 in the midst of the pandemic when travel was restricted.
But Schaffer and his co-founder / “travel nerd’ Daniel Green, the company’s chief technology officer, were determined to power confident travel. Schaffer had previously founded a startup which relied upon real-time data feeds and a distributed network of experts to help governments and Fortune 500 companies understand and plan for complex geopolitical challenges while Green, an experienced chief technology officer, has over 20 years of experience as a developer, specialising in real-time applications.
“We don’t see ourselves as a travel insurance company,” says father-of-three Schaffer. “Faye is a platform for looking after travellers, and insurance is an important component of that. It’s where travel, insurance and fintech meet to cater for the needs of today’s travellers.”
According to Allied Market Research, the global travel insurance market was valued at $16.8 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach $106.8 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 20.1 percent.
The uptake of travel insurance has been increasing due to factors such as the rising number of international travellers and the increased incidence of travel-related risks and uncertainties, especially highlighted by events such as the Covid, and Faye has become a fast-growing player in the space.
What can the modern holidaymaker expect from their summer holiday this year? “With summer being a busy travel season, travellers will face flight delays, airport congestion, long lines, lost luggage, cancellations and more. Meaning more than ever before, they need to protect their trip investments and rely on proactive 24/7 support from their provider who can help them navigate bumps in the road in real-time and relieve stress. And with the cost of emergency medical care continuing to rise, travellers must protect themselves from unforeseen costs.”
As for other travel tips, he says: “Enjoy the journey. Collect memories, not things.”
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