Aviva has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the UK-based home insurance provider Neos Ventures for an undisclosed price.

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Image: Neos Ventures provides smart home insurance solutions. Photo: courtesy of Aviva.

Neos Ventures uses smart technology that enables its customers to use connected devices to monitor and protect their homes. The company combines connected home devices like cameras and sensor technology with home insurance.

By using their smart devices, homeowners can attend to water leaks, smoke or intruders quickly owing to instant alerts about the incidents sent to their smartphones.

Headquartered in London, Neos Ventures was established in 2016. The home insurance provider, which has a workforce of 30 people, provides the Neos app to its customers to help them keep a track on their homes round-the-clock from anywhere in the world.

Aviva said that its investment in the home insurance company builds on its strategy to develop closer relationships with customers by means of digital technology and provide services to enable the policy holders to manage their daily lives in a better way.

Aviva UK general insurance MD Rob Townend said: “Harnessing the power of smart home technology allows customers to better manage what’s happening in their homes as well as helping them to avoid a small problem, like a slow water leak, becoming a big inconvenience.

“By taking a majority share in the business, we’ll be able to use Neos’s expertise in smart technology, and we’re excited to build on our existing relationship with them.”

The deal to buy the majority stake in the home insurance firm follows an investment made by the British insurance giant in Neos Ventures in 2017 through Aviva Ventures, its corporate capital venture fund.

Neos Ventures CEO Matt Poll said: “I am delighted that Aviva has chosen to make a further significant investment in Neos. It is a great reflection on how far we have come in creating value for our customers.

“I know Aviva shares our excitement about the future for our technology and innovative proposition in the insurance market and what Neos can go on to achieve.”

The transaction is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approval.