Largest ever Series A round by an Indian Insurtech company

Goldman Sachs Asset Management and TVS Capital Funds led the equity round

Investcorp,  Avataar Ventures and LeapFrog Investments also participated

Funding InsuranceDekho’s vision of providing insurance options for every Indian

New Delhi, India: InsuranceDekho, India’s leading Insurtech player, today said it has raised $150 million in Series A funding consisting of a mix of equity and debt, the largest ever series A round by an Indian Insurtech company. The equity round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and TVS Capital Funds with participation from Investcorp, Avataar Ventures and existing investor, LeapFrog Investments.

InsuranceDekho was founded by Ankit Agrawal and Ish Babbar in 2016. Since its inception, the company has seen significant premium growth and aims to achieve annualised premium run-rate of INR 3,500 crores by March 2023.

The latest funding will be used to scale up InsuranceDekho’s product and technology functions, expand to new markets, launch new innovative products in the health and life categories, grow the company’s Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) insurance business, strengthen its leadership team and pursue inorganic growth opportunities.

Ankit Agrawal, CEO and Co-founder, InsuranceDekho, said: “We need to go beyond the urban regions when it comes to insurance penetration in the country. To realise our goal of democratising insurance for the general public, we are expanding our reach and will continue to build on our tech-based solutions and empowered advisors so that they can serve every village and region of India by the end of the year. India is on the verge of a revolution in insurance, and InsuranceDekho is well positioned to meet the insurance needs of every Indian.”

Ish Babbar, CTO and Co-founder, InsuranceDekho, said: “Insurance distribution in India is a complex problem that needs innovative solutions. The fundraise will enable us to deploy scalable Insurtech solutions in the areas of data analytics, Artificial Intelligence, last mile servicing and claims management while keeping customer experience at the core of everything.”

India’s current insurance penetration rate is 4.2%¹ of GDP compared to 12%² in the USA and 7%² globally. Almost 85%¹ of India’s existing insurance premiums are centered in the metros and Tier 1 cities. InsuranceDekho aims to change that. As part of its mission to provide access to insurance throughout the country, 82% of InsuranceDekho’s premiums come from customers in Tier 2 and beyond regions. It is present in more than 1,300 towns covering 98% of pin codes in India and is working towards establishing 100% penetration in the country.

By the end of 2023, InsuranceDekho aims to have more than 200,000 insurance advisors active on its platform. Typically, most InsuranceDekho insurance advisors observe a threefold increase in total household income within six months of being associated with the company³. These advisors’ ability to earn more allows them to significantly improve the quality of living for their families.

InsuranceDekho works with most insurance providers and has direct integration with 46 insurance companies across India offering more than 380 insurance products including 175 products for health and life. InsuranceDekho intends to expand its portfolio by offering more products in near future.

Haitong Securities India acted as the sole investment bank advising on the fundraise.  

Amit Jain, CEO and Co-founder, CarDekho Group, said: “Celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship and thriving on the robust value system, CarDekho Group has promoted the culture of being a ‘House of Founders’ who have fostered various disruptive ideas and propelled these businesses to the orbit of sustainable growth with profitability. It’s heartening to see that InsuranceDekho under Ankit’s leadership, has come a long way as it continues to disrupt the Insurtech space in India by leveraging its unparalleled unit economics,  the best technology, phenomenal partner practices and innovation to set new benchmarks in stakeholder experience.”

Rajat Sood, a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management said: “Technological innovation is transforming the Indian insurance industry by making coverage more accessible and affordable. InsuranceDekho has demonstrated a proven ability to bring new-to-insurance channel partners to their platform, while empowering them through technology-based solutions and working closely with insurers. We look forward to leveraging our global domain expertise and supporting the management team in its expansion to provide broader coverage and more solutions nationwide.”

Stewart Langdon, Partner, LeapFrog Investments, said: “InsuranceDekho is leading the way in the Indian Insurtech space, equipping consumers across the country with access to insurance and providing families with the tools to improve their financial security. This investment aligns with LeapFrog’s impact objectives to enhance financial inclusion in underserved communities by protecting families from incidents which could contribute to them falling into poverty. We are pleased to have contributed to what is the largest ever Series A fundraise by an India Insurtech business, and will continue to support the business on its impressive journey.”

Praveen Sridharan, Partner, TVS Capital Funds said: “Though insurance is vital for financial security of everyone, its penetration is still at 4.2% of Indian GDP compared to the global average of 7.4%.  The key to improving penetration in India is to access the middle and lower middle income class—the next 400 million—living in the next 1000 towns of India. InsuranceDekho, with its agency model and digital DNA, offers a powerful mechanism for this penetration to expand.  We are convinced on the InsuranceDekho model. Of course, we always back founders who can demonstrate bringing alpha and were impressed with Ankit and the team based on their execution capability, operational excellence, and superior technology skills. We are delighted to partner in their journey of enabling access to insurance products to the 600,000 villages of India.”

Varun Laul, Partner, Investcorp said: “InsuranceDekho has adopted a very innovative approach in addressing the underserved insurance industry in India, under the leadership of Ankit and Ish. This is Investcorp’s first investment into the Indian Insurtech market and we are excited to support InsuranceDekho in its journey to make insurance more readily available to people.”

Nishant Rao, Founding Partner of Avataar Ventures added: “We are big believers of the immense growth opportunity from better serving Bharat. The pandemic also taught us all the precious value of life and adverse impact of disrupted household financials. In Ankit and team, we found the unique combination of best tech, right culture and deep operational rigour required to create innovative insurance offerings needed for the Tier 3+ markets – key to unlocking success here differs greatly from metro India. Given Avataar’s Operating VC model, we will work closely with the InsuranceDekho team to deliver on its ambitious growth goals!” 

InsuranceDekho was incubated within India’s leading Auto-tech and IPO bound Unicorn – CarDekho Group. InsuranceDekho is a brand name owned by Girnar Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd (GIBPL). GIBPL was incorporated in 2016 and has been granted the license to act as a Direct Insurance Broker by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (“IRDAI”) in 2017. It enables its consumers to compare different insurance policies based on their requirements and helps them purchase the most suitable plan. The company currently has tie-ups with 46 insurance companies offering more than 380  products on its platform. Ten Indians buy a policy from InsuranceDekho every minute⁴. InsuranceDekho is headquartered in Gurgaon and has a presence in 1300+ cities across the country. Multi-talented Director Actor Farhan Akhtar is InsuranceDekho’s brand ambassador.

For more information, go to: www.insurancedekho.com.

LeapFrog invests in exceptional businesses in Africa and Asia, partnering with their leaders to achieve leaps of growth, profitability, and social impact. LeapFrog’s portfolio companies now reach 407 million people across 30 countries with healthcare or financial services. LeapFrog has raised over US$2bn from global institutional investors, including US$500m recently committed by Temasek to LeapFrog and its future funds. LeapFrog was ranked by Fortune as one of the top five Companies to Change the World, the first private investment firm ever listed. For more information, go to: www.leapfroginvest.com.

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