Amazon-Backed Acko Raises Fresh $65 Mn In Series C From Binny Bansal, RPS Ventures, Others

Mumbai-based online-only insurance startup Acko has raised $65 Mn in Series C funding from a bunch of existing as well as new investors.

After months of speculations, Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal has reportedly invested $25 Mn in the company. The other investors in the round included Amazon, Kabir Misra-led RPS Ventures, Intact Ventures Inc, Accel, SAIF and TechPro Ventures.

Acko General Insurance, which was founded by Coverfox cofounder Varun Dua in 2017, offers customer centric product design, instance-based products, customised real-time pricing and instant claim verification and settlement.

“In addition to their innovative direct-to-consumer strategy, Varun and his team have taken a creative approach by developing impactful distribution partnerships that allow millions of customers to protect assets that are meaningful to them,” said Karim Hirji, Senior Vice-President of Intact Ventures.

The company uses a direct-to-consumer approach for distributing motor insurance, allowing for favourable risk selection and superior underwriting. Acko also offers innovative and bite-sized insurance products such as rider insurance, mobile and appliance protection, ticket cancellation etc in partnership with more than 15 leading players in the internet ecosystem such as Ola, Amazon, redBus, Zomato and UrbanClap.

Binny Bansal, cofounder Flipkart and Xto10X, said, “Technology led insurance is expected to play a significant role in the growth of the underpenetrated insurance sector in India. Acko is the pioneer of digital-native insurance and I am delighted to partner in its exciting growth journey”

The company claims to have distributed insurance policies to over 20mn unique customers in its first year of operations. Since its inception, the company has raised $107 Mn funding from investors including Catamaran Ventures; Venk Krishnan and Subba Rao of NuVentures; Kris Gopalakrishnan and Hemendra Kothari of DSP Blackrock.

“We have strong conviction on the ensuing insurtech wave and more specifically in India which is hugely under penetrated and suffers from multiple gaps. We are excited to support Acko, which is transforming insurance through technology and data based underwriting and a unique customer-centric approach,” said Kabir Misra, managing partner at RPS Ventures, in a statement.

The company had received its in-principle regulatory clearance to launch a general insurance business in India. It has received its R3 license in September 2017.

The insurance space in India is currently dominated by banks and government agencies such as LIC, GIC, etc. Also, there are a plethora of insurtech startups such as PolicyBazaar, CoverFox, among others.

Further in a bid to strengthen its presence in the finance segment, online payment platform Paytm also incorporated two Insurance companies namely Paytm Life Insurance Corporation Ltd and Paytm General Insurance Corporation Ltd in 2018.

However, currently, only 3%  insurance is bought online in India in a $80 Bn market. This share is likely to grow given the rising access of consumers to online insurance services.