India Infoline Finance Ltd Group’s investment vehicle IIFL Fintech Fund on Wednesday acquired a minority stake in insurtech startup Insurance Samadhan for $2 million (nearly Rs 16.6 crore), valuing the firm at about Rs 100 crore or $12 million.
Delhi-based Insurance Samadhan cumulatively raised $3 million (about Rs 24.8 crore) in its Series A fundraise round, which also saw participation from Raay Global Investments, and existing investors including Equanimity Investments and 9Unicorns. The round also saw secondary exits from some angel investors.
Following this investment, IIFL Fintech Fund would be the largest investor in the fintech firm with a 16% stake, followed by Equanimity Partners and 9Unicorns.
Founded by Shailesh Kumar (Insurance Head), Shilpa Arora (COO), Deepak Bhuvneshwari Uniyal (CEO), and Sanjay Aggarwal (Legal Head). The firm claims to have resolved about 14,500 insurance grievances like mis-selling, fraud and claim rejections in life, health and general insurance.
The firm plans to channel this fundraise to build its mobile application and strengthen its marketing activity. “Our app ‘PoliFyx' would come up with new features. From the last leg of the insurance journey, we would be coming at the start of the insurance journey and would assist insurance policy holders in policy management and policy servicing,” the startup’s co-founder and CEO Deepak Bhuvneshwari Uniyal said.
The Delhi-based insurtech firm also plans to ramp up hiring for technology development, followed by operations and partner channel.
With the first investment in the insurtech segment, IIFL Fintech Fund’s fund manager Mehekka Oberoi said, “Not many players are operating in this segment and thus it’s a whitespace for Insurance Samadhaan to become a market leader. A large pie of $12bn opportunity can be seized by them.”
The firm raised about Rs 5.5 crore in a pre-Series A funding round led Equanimity Investments in December last year, along with participation from 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, ZNL and other angel investors.
Recently, Indore-based business insure-tech startup BimaKavach also raised about $2 million in a seed funding round led by WaterBridge Ventures, along with investments from Blume Ventures, Arali Ventures, and Eximius Ventures.
Among other fundraises in the insurtech segment, Noida-based digital insurance solutions provider Zopper, in September, secured a Series C funding of $75 million led by private equity fund Creaegis Principals LLP, with participation from ICICI Venture, Bessemer Venture Partners and Blume Ventures.
