Exclusive: IPO Bound Policybazaar Receives Fresh Infusion From Parent PB Fintech

IPO-bound PB Fintech Limited has infused fresh capital worth INR 99.9 Cr ($13.4 Mn) in its insurance aggregating platform Policybazaar.

As per the latest regulatory filing Policybazaar Insurance Brokers Private Limited, in a meeting held on September 24, the board of directors has approved allotting 20,20,202 equity shares of Policybazaar Insurance Brokers at premium price of INR 485 to its parent firm PB Fintech Ltd. 

Policybazaar Insurance Brokers Private Limited, earlier known as Policybazaar Insurance Web Aggregator Private Limited, operates Policybazaar. 

In June this year, PolicyBazaar  had registered itself as a direct insurance broker under the Insurance Brokers Regulations, thus enabling the startup to venture into different business segments including insurance aggregation under the broking umbrella. 

Back then, the startup had 15 outlets and was working towards scaling up to 100 locations.

Founded in 2008 by IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad alumni Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, and Avaneesh Nirjar, Policybazaar is an online insurance aggregator. The fintech unicorn has  two other sister companies — PaisaBazaar,  a lending marketplace, and healthtech venture DocPrime. The company had last raised $75 Mn in funding led by US-based Falcon Edge Capital to expand its services in the UAE and West Asia.

The startup is backed by marquee investors such as SoftBank, Temasek, InfoEdge, among others and has raised over $766 Mn in multiple rounds from investors. 

As of March 31, 2021, the startup claimed that over 48 Mn consumers have registered on its platform and purchased over 19 Mn policies from insurer partners on the platform. The startup pits against the likes of Virat Kohli-backed Digit Insurance, Acko Insurance, Plum, Coverfox, among others.  

Policybazaar in August joined the slew of Indian startups going for its initial public offering. The startup filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator for raising INR 6,017 Cr. 

The IPO of PB Fintech limited will comprise a fresh issue of INR 3,750 Cr worth of equity shares and an offer for sale (OFS) of INR 2,267.50 Cr by existing shareholders and promoters. 

The OFS will see sale of up to INR 1,875 Cr worth of shares by SoftBank and up to INR 392.50 Cr by other investors and promoters, including cofounder and CEO Yashish Dahiya.

The DRHP revealed that the startup had reported a revenue of INR 957.4 Cr in FY 21, a 12% rise from INR 855 Cr that it posted in FY20. Policybazaar managed to narrow its loss by half to INR 150.2 Cr in FY21 as compared to INR 304 Cr in FY20.

This story first appeared on Inc42 on 4th October at 7:25 PM