Acko Technology & Services Pvt. Ltd, which operates an eponymous insurance technology startup, has raised $20 million (approximately Rs 143.50 crore at current exchange rates) in funding from Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal.
The latest transaction takes Bansal’s total investment in Mumbai-based Acko to $45 million, making it his largest personal bet on an Indian startup, The Economic Times reported.
The capital infusion by Bansal is expected to be part of the larger $40-$42 million funding round, with private equity firm Ascent Capital being expected to invest $16 million, the report said, citing filings with the Registrar of Companies.
Other firms that are rumoured to be participating in this round include Ventureast and Baring Private Equity Partners India. The entire funding exercise will comprise of domestic capital and will be subject to regulatory approval, the report added.
Companies in India’s insurance sector are bound by a 49% foreign direct investment (FDI) cap.
VCCircle has reached out to Acko on the details of the latest funding and will update this report shortly.
Bansal’s funding comes just months after the Flipkart co-founder took part in a $65 million (around Rs 452.3 crore) Series C funding round in Acko in March. Other entities that participated in that round included RPS Ventures, which is managed by the former managing partner at SoftBank Kabir Misra, and Intact Ventures, the strategic venture arm of Intact Financial Corporation. Amazon, Accel, SAIF and TechPro Ventures also participated.
Acko, incorporated in 2016, was founded by Varun Dua. The firm operates as an independent general insurance company, offering its services through a digital platform. It provides personalised insurance products based on user behaviour, including general and auto insurance.
The company claims to use a direct-to-consumer approach for distributing motor insurance, allowing for favourable risk selection and underwriting. Acko also offers what it calls as microinsurance products, which include rider insurance, mobile and appliance protection and ticket cancellation. Companies it has partnered with include Ola, Amazon, redBus, Zomato, and UrbanClap.
Binny Bansal’s bets
Bansal has turned into a highly active angel investor in India following his resignation from homegrown e-commerce firm Flipkart late last year on allegations of personal misconduct.
Last month, he co-led a $12.5 million (Rs 88 crore) Series C funding round in the restaurant marketing and analytics platform Mobikon. The startup is a customer engagement and marketing platform for the food and beverage industry offering customer engagement, marketing, analytics, and business tools in a single platform.
In September, Bansal was part of a clutch of investors that committed Rs 5.8 crore (around $824,000) in TerraView, a software-as-a-service-based image processing startup. Before that, in July, the Flipkart co-founder led a $1 million (around Rs 6.8 crore then) angel funding round in House of Masaba, the luxury fashion label launched by celebrated designer Masaba Gupta.
