General Insurance Startup Acko receives $225 million, valuing the company at $1.1 billion
Acko, a general insurance startup founded four years ago, has raised $255 million in a new investment round headed by private equity firms General Atlantic and Multiples Private Equity, valuing the company at $1.1 billion.
The funding round included current investors Intact Ventures and Munich Re Ventures, as well as Canada's largest pension fund, CPPIB, and Lightspeed Growth.
The Bengaluru-based firm was in talks with General Atlantic and others for capital infusion on June 29. Last year, Acko, the newest Indian unicorn, was valued at over $400 million. Unicorns are privately held businesses with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more.
A secondary component is expected to be included in the latest fundraise, bringing the total round size to more over $300 million. An existing shareholder sells their stock to a new investment in a secondary transaction. The new funds will be used to invest in the health insurance sector.
“As many as 80% of the people who can buy health insurance still don’t have it in India, so the market is very large and untapped. It’s not a winner take all market and easily 10-20 large insurance manufacturers and brands can exist here like how it is globally...” Varun Dua, the cofounder and chief executive of Acko, told ET. “We are targeting 100-150 million digitally native Indians to provide them with insurance products focused on auto, health.”
Acko was founded in 2016 by Dua after he left online insurance aggregator Coverfox. It offers products in the car, health, and travel insurance segments, and it has worked with companies such as cab-aggregator Ola and Amazon to give bite-sized insurance coverage through their respective applications.
The money comes at a time when insurtech enterprises around the world are seeing increased client demand as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has raised awareness regarding insurance.
Acko has received $450 million in total capital, including the most recent round. Amazon, Accel, Elevation Capital, Ascent Capital, Intact Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, and Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart, are among its existing backers.
The funding round included current investors Intact Ventures and Munich Re Ventures, as well as Canada's largest pension fund, CPPIB, and Lightspeed Growth.
The Bengaluru-based firm was in talks with General Atlantic and others for capital infusion on June 29. Last year, Acko, the newest Indian unicorn, was valued at over $400 million. Unicorns are privately held businesses with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more.
A secondary component is expected to be included in the latest fundraise, bringing the total round size to more over $300 million. An existing shareholder sells their stock to a new investment in a secondary transaction. The new funds will be used to invest in the health insurance sector.
“As many as 80% of the people who can buy health insurance still don’t have it in India, so the market is very large and untapped. It’s not a winner take all market and easily 10-20 large insurance manufacturers and brands can exist here like how it is globally...” Varun Dua, the cofounder and chief executive of Acko, told ET. “We are targeting 100-150 million digitally native Indians to provide them with insurance products focused on auto, health.”
Acko was founded in 2016 by Dua after he left online insurance aggregator Coverfox. It offers products in the car, health, and travel insurance segments, and it has worked with companies such as cab-aggregator Ola and Amazon to give bite-sized insurance coverage through their respective applications.
The money comes at a time when insurtech enterprises around the world are seeing increased client demand as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has raised awareness regarding insurance.
Acko has received $450 million in total capital, including the most recent round. Amazon, Accel, Elevation Capital, Ascent Capital, Intact Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, and Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart, are among its existing backers.
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