Lemonade pays first charity 'giveback' from premium pool
InsurTech start-up Lemonade has given $53,174 to 14 charities in the first "giveback" of cash left over from its premium pool. The digital insurance pioneer became operational last year with the promise that any money remaining after claims had been paid out would go to worthy causes. Its business model is based on the belief that policyholders would be more responsible if they knew that the alternative to making fraudulent claims was to put money back into society. The handout accounts for just over 10% of revenue.

Lemonade Insurance announced today that 14 charitable organizations, which were selected by policyholders, will become the beneficiaries of donations that together total 10% of the company’s revenues to date.

The startup’s “2017 Giveback” campaign is “something our entire community can be very proud of,” Lemonade CEO and cofounder Daniel Schreiber said in a press release. “While we’re small, and the absolute numbers are modest, Giveback should scale as we do. Think what our industry could achieve if others adopted the Giveback way.”