Insurer Marshmallow toasts new Shoreditch office
Tech unicorn Marshmallow is lining up a move to CIT Real Estate’s Hylo, a new office building on the northern edge of the City of London, after a period of rapid growth for the company.
The start-up, which offers car insurance via an app which allows users to make claims digitally, is under offer on around 30,000 sq ft at the site across three floors, EG understands.
Launched in 2016, the insurtech business is valued at $1.25bn (£900m) following a recent funding round.
Tech unicorn Marshmallow is lining up a move to CIT Real Estate’s Hylo, a new office building on the northern edge of the City of London, after a period of rapid growth for the company.
The start-up, which offers car insurance via an app which allows users to make claims digitally, is under offer on around 30,000 sq ft at the site across three floors, EG understands.
Launched in 2016, the insurtech business is valued at $1.25bn (£900m) following a recent funding round.
Its headcount has also grown by 200% in the past year to 170 staff, pushing it to seek a bigger office. It was previously based at 80 Old Street, EC1.
Marshmallow will follow fintech company GoCardless into Hylo, a 75,000 sq ft letting revealed by EG earlier this year.
The 29-storey building, which sits on Bunhill Row, EC1, near Old Street roundabout, contains 285,000 sq ft of offices over 28 stories, and 17,000 sq ft of retail space.
It is built around a 16-storey, late-1960s office block, but a recent redevelopment saw contractor Mace strip it back to its concrete skeleton before extending it upwards by an additional 13 storeys.
The angular tower also features 11,000 sq ft of outside terraces across four floors, high-tech air filtration and temperature-regulation, as well as a café and wellbeing facilities.
CIT bought the site in 2015 for £107m. It is being marketed to potential occupiers by Compton, Cushman & Wakefield and BNP Paribas. All parties declined to comment.
The deal comes amid a recovery in central London office take-up, which reached 5.1m sq ft by the end of the third quarter, according to Savills data.
That figure already exceeds the full-year take-up for last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic pushed it down to just 4.7m sq ft.
It would also make Marshmallow the latest tech company to significantly expand its office space in the City fringe, following the likes of TikTok, Snapchat and Depop earlier this year.
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Image © CIT Real Estate
