INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Mumbai: India’s nascent ‘Insurtech’ sector seems to be coming of age attracting investments worth $183 million in 2019, the highest
ever in a calendar year, even though investment rounds were fewer last year.
Investments nearly doubled from $89.2 million in 2018, with
investment rounds reducing to 11 from 18 a year ago, data sourced by ET from business intelligence platform Tracxn showed.
Within the
sector, Internetbased platforms made the most attractive avenue for investments, drawing 10 of the 11 investment rounds of 2019
These companies include Acko, Turtlemint, Coverfox and Vymo.
“There is an increasing push from the regulators for general insurers to curb
These companies can provide (support to) traditional players in not just processing of claims but also in decision making,” said Ashvin
Parekh, managing partner of APAS, an insurance consultancy firm.
“Much of these investments are happening in the space of artificial
Insurance companies are tying up with these startups for both expense control and improving their disbursement models,” Parekh said.
The
sector had attracted investments worth $121 million in 2017, which at that time was the highest in a calendar year
Prior to that, about $100 million had been invested in the sector between 2010 and 2016
The total investments to the sector stood at $492 million since the turn of the decade, data from Tracxn showed.
The lead investment of 2019
was $65 million by Palo Alto-based RPS Ventures in internet first general insurance company Acko in March along with Intact Ventures
Other notable investments during 2019 include $25 million funding of insurance platform Turtlemint by Sequoia Capital in January along with
Blume Ventures and $20 million funding of Acko by angel investor Binny Bansal.
Startups such as RenewBuy, Vymo, Coverfox and Toffee also
raised funds over the course of the year with investments coming from IIFL Asset Management, Emergence Capital.