Comcast has teamed with “smart” home insurance provider Hippo on a trial in Houston that, they claim, will help consumers there save up to 25% of their annual home insurance premiums via a program that leans on integrated IoT home safety devices.

For this stage of the test, which will have some linkages to Comcast’s Xfinity Home service, Comcast said it has made Hippo’s home insurance offering available to all interested residential customers in the greater Houston area. Comcast and Hippo plan to expand the offer to other Comcast service areas later this year.

Hippo currently is officially licensed and operating in California, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.

The trial announcement comes about five weeks after Comcast Ventures helped to lead a $25 million “B” round in Hippo, which was founded in 2015 and has raised about $36 million so far.

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Hippo’s aim is to focus on a large base of underinsured homes with an approach that, it claims, is both cheaper and more modern.

As part of its plan to serve what it sees as a market of underinsured homes, Hippo uses smart home technology, such as water leak sensors, to help detect problems early and, when possible, prevent damage from taking place.

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Per the site dedicated to the Houston pilot, Comcast Xfinity Home customers are also in line for additional “smart home discounts” for having certain home safety devices – such as monitored smoke detectors -- installed with their system and lower risks that “typically lead to insurance claims – like theft and fire.”

“This new offering can provide customers with meaningful savings on their annual home insurance premiums and enhanced home insurance coverage,” Jon Kaplowitz, managing director and GM of new businesses at Comcast, said in a statement. “By bringing together smart home devices like monitored smoke and water leak detectors with home insurance, we’re able to help customers lower their annual home insurance cost and, at the same time, help to provide protection and peace of mind for our customers’ most important assets – their home and family.”

“We’ve modernized traditional home policies to go beyond just providing coverage in the event of fire, theft, or water damage,” added Assaf Wand, CEO and co-founder of Hippo. “We’ve added equipment breakdown coverage into our policies so customers have repair and replacement protection on the things that ‘run’ their home - things like heating and air conditioning systems, hot water heaters, major appliances, electronics and more.” 

Comcast Ventures and Fifth Wall led a $25 million “B” round in Hippo, a California-based home insurance technology and service startup.

Founded in 2015, Hippo has raised $36 million so far, according to Crunchbase. Hippo closed a $14 million A round in December 2016 that was led by Horizons Ventures along with help from RPM Ventures, Propel Venture Partners, GGV Capital and Pipeline Capital.

The company’s aim is to serve a large swath of underinsured homes with an approach that, it claims, is both cheaper and more modern.

Notably, the company says it uses smart home technology to help detect problems early and, when possible, prevent damage from taking place. For example, the company provides a free water leak sensor with every policy and expects to offer other home-safety products.

Comcast hasn’t announced how it might work more closely with Hippo down the line, but the company has been boosting its focus on smart home technologies and services in recent years. Its Xfinity Home service has more than 1 million subscribers.

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The startup holds that its policies are underwritten by insurance companies with nearly $200 billion in assets. It also claims that its policies are up to 25% cheaper to purchase, and customers can obtain quotes in as little as 60 seconds.

Hippo noted that it aims to make its insurance product available to 60% of U.S. homeowners in 2018. Per its web site, the product is currently available in three states: California, Arizona and Texas.

Hippo said the new funding will support expansion and development initiatives planned for this year, including a new customer service center in Austin, Texas, that will become the “hub for Hippo’s claims advocate concierges, along with its insurance operations teams.”

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“Hippo is reimagining homeowners insurance with a customer-centric model, built from the ground up,” Assaf Wand, Hippo’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “The company leverages big data, like municipal building records, and innovative technology, such as satellite imagery and smart home devices, to streamline the quote and onboarding experience - quotes in under 60 seconds and sign-up in under three minutes.”

“More and more complex financial purchases are being made online, yet the insurance industry has fallen short of providing homeowners with a digitally delivered product that provides the quality of service consumers deserve,” added Sam Landman, managing director of Comcast Ventures. “We invested in Hippo because the team is executing against their vision to build a more modern, consumer-focused product with proprietary internal tools that we believe will create a sustainable operational advantage.”