In March 2020, London insurtech Zego acquired Drivit, a local startup that used phone sensors to track how people drive. The deal was structured as an acqui-hire and tech purchase. It brought Drivit's real-time data on speeding, braking, acceleration, cornering and phone distraction straight into Zego's commercial motor platform. Drivit's brand was retired. Its team, co-founders included, joined Zego's product and engineering groups. The tools became part of Zego's telematics offering for fleet and gig-economy customers.
Zego had closed a Series B of $42 million, led by Target Global, in 2019. After absorbing Drivit, the company kept growing. It reached unicorn status following a $150 million Series C in 2021. The purchase price and financial terms were not disclosed. It remains unclear whether Drivit shareholders received equity, cash or a mix.
What Drivit's technology did that black-box telematics could not
Phone sensors replace vehicle hardware
Drivit's system used only the accelerometers, gyroscopes and GPS already inside a smartphone. It gathered data on speeding, braking, acceleration, cornering and phone distraction. No extra device was fitted to the vehicle.
The cost and logistics of black boxes
Conventional fleet telematics usually required a black box plugged into the OBD-II port or hardwired by a technician. That meant upfront hardware costs per vehicle, plus installation schedules and ongoing maintenance. Drivit's phone-based method removed those barriers. It made telematics viable for short-term rentals or gig drivers using personal cars for delivery and ride-hailing.
Onboarding in hours, not weeks
Data collection could start as soon as a driver downloaded an app. For Zego, which insured people working for Deliveroo, Uber and similar platforms, that speed mattered. A driver who signed up in the morning could be monitored by the afternoon. Black-box systems could not match that timeline.
Why Zego chose to acquire rather than build or partner
The build-versus-buy calculus
CEO Sten Saar said Zego evaluated building its own phone-based telematics and considered partnerships. The decision to buy Drivit came down to speed and team expertise. Drivit had already solved the hard problem: extracting reliable driving signals from phone sensors, filtering out false positives when the phone moved without the driver, and building a scoring model an insurer could use for risk pricing. Building that from scratch would have taken months. Zego wanted the capability live before the 2020 fleet renewal cycle.
Why a partner wasn't enough
Drivit's team brought machine-learning experience specific to telematics data. The acqui-hire structure gave Zego engineers and data scientists who already understood the domain. Relying on an outside provider would have left Zego dependent on a third party for a core piece of its risk pricing. It would also have required integration work anyway. Owning Drivit gave Zego control over the data pipeline and the freedom to tune the scoring model for its own book of business.
What happened to Drivit's customers and staff after the deal
Team and brand absorbed
Drivit's existing customers, if any remained at the time of purchase, were moved to Zego's platform. The number of employees who joined was not disclosed. The group included co-founders and engineers who became part of Zego's product and engineering departments. The Drivit brand was retired. The tech was rebranded as part of Zego's telematics offer. It is not known whether Drivit had live commercial contracts that were transferred or simply ended.
How the integration changed Zego's product
After the deal, fleet customers could opt into phone-based monitoring instead of installing hardware. Drivers downloaded the Zego app. The Drivit-derived software began collecting data on their driving habits immediately. Zego used that data to adjust premiums based on individual risk, rather than relying solely on vehicle type, postcode and driver age. The company pitched this as a way to reward safer drivers with lower premiums, a common usage-based insurance promise.
How the acquisition fit Zego's product roadmap and European expansion
From gig economy to real-time fleet pricing
Zego was founded in 2016 by Sten Saar, Stuart Kelly and Harry Franks to provide commercial motor cover for gig-economy drivers. By 2019 the company had expanded into fleet insurance for small and medium businesses. The Drivit acquisition in March 2020 was a step toward a platform that could price risk in real time. Zego wanted policies that could be paused, resumed or adjusted based on actual driving patterns. That required continuous data collection.
Easier cross-border launches
The timing also aligned with Zego's European push. The company had already begun offering insurance in Ireland and Spain. Phone-based telematics was easier to deploy across borders than hardware systems. It did not need local installation networks or hardware supply chains. Zego could enter a new market with just an app and a local insurance licence. The company was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an insurance intermediary and later gained an insurance licence. The exact timeline of that licence relative to the Drivit deal is not specified.
Regulatory and data-privacy implications of smartphone driver monitoring
GDPR and consent
Using phone sensors to monitor driving raised data-privacy questions. The Drivit tools collected location, acceleration and phone-use data. All of it fell under UK data protection law. Zego was already regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an insurance intermediary. The company had to ensure its data collection complied with the General Data Protection Regulation. Drivers had to consent to monitoring. Zego had to be transparent about what data it collected, how it was used and how long it was kept.
The passenger problem
One specific concern was telling driver actions from passenger actions. If a passenger used the phone, the data could wrongly penalise the driver. Drivit's software tried to filter out such cases using sensor patterns. The accuracy of that filtering was a factor in how insurers and regulators viewed the data. The FCA did not issue specific guidance on phone telematics at the time. But Zego's existing regulatory status meant the company was already subject to conduct risk and data protection rules.
Competitive context
The landscape included other app-based telematics providers such as Cambridge Mobile Telematics and TrueMotion. Few were focused specifically on the commercial fleet and gig-economy segments that Zego targeted.
Reaction from investors, carrier partners and the market
Investor backing
Zego's existing investors, including Target Global which led the $42 million Series B in 2019, supported the deal. It was a logical extension of Zego's tech strategy. The purchase was small enough that it did not require a new funding round. It gave Zego a differentiated capability against traditional commercial motor insurers who relied on historical claims data rather than real-time driving data.
Carrier interest
Insurance carrier partners, who provided the underwriting capacity for Zego's policies, were reportedly interested in the potential for better risk selection. If Zego could spot safer drivers in real time, the combined portfolio would have fewer claims. That benefited both Zego and its carrier partners.
Competitive position
Rivals at the time included traditional fleet insurers such as AXA and Allianz. They offered telematics programmes but usually used hardware-based systems. Insurtech rivals such as Cuvva and By Miles offered usage-based cover for personal vehicles. They did not target commercial fleets with phone telematics. The Drivit deal gave Zego a narrow but defensible advantage in the gig-economy and small-fleet segment. The transaction closed in March 2020. Zego later became a unicorn after a $150 million Series C in 2021. That suggests investors saw lasting value in the telematics capability, even though the Drivit brand itself was retired.
Key facts
- Acquirer: Zego (London-based insurtech, founded 2016 by Sten Saar, Stuart Kelly, Harry Franks)
- Target: Drivit (London-based smartphone telematics startup)
- Announcement date: March 2020
- Deal structure: Acqui-hire and technology purchase; financial terms not disclosed
- What Zego gained: Phone-based driver data (speeding, braking, acceleration, cornering, phone distraction) without vehicle hardware
- Post-acquisition: Drivit brand retired; team joined Zego product and engineering; tools integrated into Zego's telematics offering
- Zego funding at time: $42 million Series B led by Target Global (2019)
- Later outcome: Zego became a unicorn after $150 million Series C in 2021
- Regulation: Zego authorised by FCA as insurance intermediary; later gained insurance licence
