Pet owners are beginning to realize the value of quality pet insurance, resulting in rapid growth for Embrace Pet Insurance. With that growth comes new hires, a change in investors and a partnership with a celebrity veterinarian.

While less than one percent of U.S. pet owners insure their pets -- compared to 25 percent in the UK -- founder Laura Bennett is working to change those numbers by going to vets and educating them about the benefits of insurance and encouraging them to recommend Embrace to their clients.

Embrace partnered with some comprehensive insurance companies last year. Most recently, Bennett signed on several large, well-known insurance companies to offer Embrace pet insurance to their clients.

To keep up with its growth, Embrace hired 17 employees last year. “I was like, holy moly,” says founder Laura Bennett. “And we have a number of positions open too. We’re now at 47 employees from 30. That’s growth of more than 50 percent.” Most of the hiring was in the claims, customer service and tech departments.

Amid all the hiring, Beauvest US, a private equity investor from Canada, bought out Embrace's venture investors. “Our prior investors had been in for over five years and were ready to move on per their investment guidelines,” says Bennett. “It’s good for Embrace in that our new investor is prepared to invest more money for us to grow and become more efficient. This person used to work in the insurance industry in Canada and sold his businesses. He understands our business.”

Earlier this month Embrace announced that the company has partnered with celebrity veterinarian, Dr. Marty Becker, known as “America’s Veterinarian,” to help spread the word about the importance of pet insurance. “He basically approached us,” Bennett says. “It builds awareness to our product in general and brings a lot of credibility to the Embrace brand.”

Later this year Embrace will move offices to accommodate its growth.

Source: Laura Bennett
Writer: Karin Connelly