Freo Enters Insurance Space With Corporate Agent Licence From IRDAI

SUMMARY

Peak XV-backed company aims to expand its current product stack, offering customers all digital financial products with its existing services like UPI, loan offering and savings

The platform claims to be active in 1,200 cities and has a user base of 25 Mn

It counts the likes of Prime Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates among its other backers

Freo has secured corporate agent licence from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), a move that will now enable the digital banking platform to offer its registered users a range of curated insurance products.

With the new licence, the Peak XV-backed company aims to expand its current product stack, offering customers all digital financial products with its existing services like UPI, loan offering and savings.

Freo was launched initially as MoneyTap back in 2015 by Anuj Kacker, Kunal Varma and Bala Parthasarathy. Since 2021, MoneyTap became a part of the larger Freo under which the startup offers a comprehensive range of products including credit lines, cards, loans, bill payments, credit on UPI, savings accounts, deposits, insurance solutions and financial utilities.

“At Freo, we believe insurance should be simple, trustworthy and within everyone’s reach. We’re committed to offering a seamless experience through a fully integrated digital platform aimed at delivering more value to Freo customers”, said Varma.

The platform claims to be active in 1,200 cities and has a user base of 25 Mn.

It counts the likes of Prime Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates among its other backers.

This development comes at a time when Freo is planning to join the reverse flipping parade as local markets begin to offer richer valuations for new economy scripts.

The Bengaluru-based startup claimed that its gross revenue crossed INR 350 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) with a “positive contribution margin.” Back then, it claimed that its revenues have grown five fold in the past five years.

Recently many startups have entered the insurance space with IRDAI licensing.

For instance, in August, fintech unicorn PhonePe secured an insurance broking licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI),

Similarly in July, Bengaluru-based Covrzy received direct broking (general) licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, enabling the insurtech startup to operate as a direct insurance broker to offer business insurance solutions.

As per an Inc42 report, the homegrown insurtech sector is expected to grow to a market size of $307 Bn by 2030.