General Atlantic-backed online insurance platform Acko has acquired Parentlane, a digital health platform for new mothers and infants, for an undisclosed sum.
Vijay Anand, co-founder and chief executive of Parentlane, will join the Acko leadership team as per terms of the deal, the company said in a statement.
Bengaluru-based Parentlane, founded in 2015 by Anand and Neeraj Kumar Gupta, is a technology platform that offers healthcare solutions to new parents starting from preconception to the most critical early childhood development phase. It partners with hospitals across the country to offer these services.
“As we offered comprehensive care to young couples during one of their most important life milestones, we discovered the value that insurance brings to customers and how it could potentially become the primary gateway for consumers to access healthcare services,” said Anand.
The platform claims to currently have over 2 million users consuming personalised content and healthcare services.
Acko, which is in talks to raise up to $150 million, forayed into retail health insurance, a sector dominated by offline players, besides offering motor and embedded insurance. The latest acquisition will be an add-on to its offerings, aligning with its strategy of building its healthcare product.
Through the platform, the Bengaluru-headquartered unicorn will deliver personalised content and services to enable better healthcare choices, informed decisions, and improved outcomes.
“Parentlane has built a successful engagement-led technology platform for maternal health, which we believe will play a significant role in helping us provide comprehensive healthcare service to our customers and expand beyond the core insurance offerings," said Varun Dua, founder of Acko.
The insurer, founded in 2016 by Dua and Ruchi Deepak, also offers motor and embedded insurance, which drive the majority of its revenue, besides health covers. The company, which also counts Amazon, Accel, Elevation, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Lightspeed among others as its backers, was valued at $1.1 billion post a $255 million-fundraise.
In the last financial year, it doubled its revenue to Rs 1,087.5 crore. However, its losses also doubled to Rs 382 crore during the period, owing to high marketing expenses.
