Automobile marketplace unicorn CarDekho’s insurance arm, InsuranceDekho, on Tuesday said it has raised $150 million in a mix of equity and debt, in the largest Series A funding round by any insurtech company in Southeast Asia.
The round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and TVS Capital Funds with participation from Investcorp, Avataar Ventures, and LeapFrog Investments, the company said. This is TVS Capital Funds’ second investment in an insurtech company after GoDigit.
In an interview with DealStreetAsia, InsuranceDekho’s CEO and Co-founder Ankit Agrawal said the company has raised its latest funding at a “soonicorn” valuation, without disclosing more details. While he refused to reveal the mix of debt and equity in the latest funding round, Agrawal said the majority of the funding amount was in equity.
Started as an automobile aggregator by CarDekho in 2019, InsurancDekho allows customers to compare and buy motor and health insurance. The company has since expanded into other forms of insurance such as life, term, and retirement plans.
For the year ended FY22, the company’s revenue, contributed by brokerage and commission, rose 61% to Rs 47.91 crore in FY22. At the same time, the company’s losses widened 55.6% to Rs 72.29 crore during the last fiscal year.
Agrawal said the company expects to be profitable on a full-year basis in FY25. With the newly acquired funds, the company plans to expand its presence at the district and village levels. Agrawal said the company would make 3-4 acquisitions in a year.
In 2020, the insurtech startup received $20 million in funding from its parent company GirnarSoft, which it said it would use for branding and strengthening its tech, product, and sales teams.
The insurance sector in India, crowded by the likes of InsuranceDekho’s competitors Acko, LIC, and PolicyBazar, has seen a sharp growth in recent times as the pandemic made more people realise the need for financial protection and insurance coverage. The past couple of years has seen a rise in funding for insurance startups in India, with participation from a host of global investors.
Last year, Loop raised $25 million from General Catalyst and Elevation Capital (formerly Saif Partners), while ClaimBuddy raised $3 million from Chiratae Ventures and Rebright Partners. The insurance arm of Aditya Birla Group, Aditya Birla Health Insurance (ABHI), also raised $83 million from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The year also saw the biggest IPO in the history of the Indian markets — the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which debuted at an IPO price of Rs949 per share in May, valuing it at around Rs5.7 trillion. The company’s stock is now trading at Rs 606.70 per share.
Backed by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Group, Digit plans to refile papers for its $440-million IPO.
Without disclosing more details, Agrawal said InsuranceDekho’s ARPU (average revenue per user) is twice that of its nearest competitor.