InsuranceDekho Raises $150M In Series A Funding Round

Indian insurance startup platform InsuranceDekho has claimed to have raised $150 million in a Series A funding round. The funding round was co-led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and TVS Capital, with participation from Investcorp, Avataar Ventures and LeapFrog Investments. The round included some debt, around $40 million, but more than half of the raise was against equity.

InsuranceDekho, which was incubated within the unicorn group automobile marketplace group CarDekho, values itself at between $475 million to $500 million, which qualifies it for the "soonicorn" club. 

The company revealed the funding update in a LinkedIn post. 

“We have strived for it, worked and sacrificed for it, and even pulled off some tough days”. But it all matters when you see the results!

We at InsuranceDekho are happy to announce that we have taken a giant leap forward and successfully raised $150 million in the biggest Series A funding round in South East Asia! It's a validation of our dream to reach every nook and corner of the country and provide a secure life to "Bharat”.

The startup works with most insurance providers in India and has direct integration with almost four-dozen firms. The firm offers almost 400 insurance products, with coverage on automobiles being the most popular insurance product that the startup sells. InsuranceDekho is looking to expand into health and life categories and is also planning to serve small and medium-sized enterprises.

India's insurance penetration remains below 5% of GDP, compared to 12% in the US. India's GDP per capita is approximately $2,100 a year, according to the World Bank. The rating agency ICRA estimated that in 2017, of those Indians who had purchased an insurance product, they spent less than $50 on it. Ankit Agrawal, co-founder and CEO of InsuranceDekho, commented that the firm has established a presence in about 98% of all zip codes in India, providing it with the opportunity to go deeper as the market matures.

InsuranceDekho is not a household name in urban Indian cities, but the startup is selling more than 80% of all its coverage in smaller Indian cities. To democratise insurance for the general public, InsuranceDekho needs to go beyond the urban regions when it comes to insurance penetration in the country. 

As a result, the firm is looking to expand its reach and build on its tech-based solutions and empowered advisors, so that they can serve every village and region of India by the end of the year.

Currently, InsuranceDekho relies on over 80,000 gig-economy workers, referred to as "agents," to educate the market and sell insurance coverages. The Indian market needs awareness of the benefits of insurance, and someone to whom they can ask questions, he said. InsuranceDekho is aiming to double the workforce of agents by the end of the year.

InsuranceDekho's funding round comes at a time when many other firms in India are struggling to secure new financing as investors grow cautious of the market conditions.