What the business is
CarTrawler embeds car rental and mobility into 250 travel brands' booking flows; Koala sells API-first travel insurance with instant, documentation-free claims.
The bet
Embedded insurance will be the next high-margin ancillary after car rental and mobility, sold inside partners' booking flows
How it started
Koala, a Paris-based insurtech, built an API-first, automation-led travel insurance stack — including Cancel For Any Reason and Parametric Flight Disruption cover — removing the lengthy claims processes and limited refund options of traditional insurance.
What happened
CarTrawler's Connect Platform had embedded car rental and mobility for 250 global travel brands including easyJet, eDreams ODIGEO, Uber, United Airlines and American Express, connecting 2,200+ car rental and mobility suppliers across 50,000 locations in more than 150 countries. Partners kept asking for insurance, per CEO Peter O'Donovan; buying Koala became the company's first major foray into insurtech, and its latest partners include American Airlines, Jet2.com, Qantas and Virgin Australia.
How it ended up
Koala was acquired in August 2025 (price undisclosed); its insurance stack joins the Connect Platform as an embedded ancillary.
What has to be true
Travel partners were asking CarTrawler to add insurance to its embedded offering, per CEO Peter O'Donovan.
Airlines already derive nearly 15% of total revenue from ancillary services, and flexible coverage is a rising contributor.
Koala's automation removes the friction — instant claims, no documentation — that stops travellers from buying cover.
Insurance complements CarTrawler's core play of maximising conversion and ancillary revenue for 250 travel-brand partners.
What can be applied
Platforms expand by adding the next high-margin ancillary their partners ask for — buying a startup that already works beats building a regulated product in-house.
Aftermath
As of the August 15, 2025 report, the Connect Platform was set to let travel brands offer Koala's insurance products during the booking journey without significant development resources. Koala's products already served 70+ partners across 17 countries, and CarTrawler kept adding airlines — American Airlines, Jet2.com, Qantas and Virgin Australia — on top of easyJet, eDreams ODIGEO, Uber, United Airlines and American Express.
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