Mango Insurance start up echo has raised $255 million in a new funding Round led by private equity majors General Atlantic And multiplier private equity, the four-year-old company is valued at $1.1 billion.

Canada’s largest pension funds, CPPIB, and Lightspeed Growth, as well as existing investors Intact Ventures and Munich Re Ventures, also participated in the funding round.

And
Reported on June 29 That the Bengaluru-based company was in talks with General Atlantic and others to infuse capital. Eko, the latest Indian unicorn, was valued at around $400 million last year. Unicorns are privately held companies that are valued at $1 billion or more.

The latest fundraise is also expected to have a secondary component, which is likely to take the round shape to more than $300 million, an insider said. A secondary transaction involves an existing shareholder selling his stake to an upcoming investor.

The fresh capital will go towards investment in the health insurance market.

“80% of the people who buy health insurance still don’t have it in India, so the market is huge and untapped. It is not a winner in all markets and there can easily be 10-20 big insurance manufacturers and brands here like how it is globally…” Varun Dua, cofounder and chief executive of Acko told ET. “We are targeting to provide insurance products focused on auto, health…” to 100-150 million digitally native Indians.

Founded in 2016 by Dua after leaving online insurance aggregator Coverfox, Acko offers offerings in the auto, health and travel insurance segments, where it has partnered with the likes of cab-aggregators Ola and Amazon to offer bite-sized offerings available through their respective apps. Participated in insurance cover.

Funding comes at a time when insurtech Firms across the world have seen strong demand from customers as there has been greater awareness of insurance due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In India too, new-age firms such as Digit and Plum have already raised or are in the process of raising large funding rounds. “Unlike in markets like the US, private sector insurance as an industry is still relatively young here,” Dua said. “In the next 10 years, we will see new models, even if companies like Star Health, PolicyBazaar, Care Health Insurance (owned by Religare) go public and create shareholder value.”

Acko’s total funding, including the latest round, is $450 million.

Its current backers include Amazon, Accel, Elevation Capital, Ascent Capital, Intact Ventures, Munich Re Ventures and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal.

The startup said it has more than 70 million customers, which sees a run-rate of about $150 million in premiums.

Data from the insurance regulator shows that in the current financial year till September, the general insurer’s premium income stood at Rs 414 crore as against Rs 150 crore in the same period last year.

The company’s newly launched health business grew rapidly due to the increasing demand for medical covers amid the spread of Covid-19.

Acko and Digit, along with Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal’s Navi GI, are seen as new-age brands in the digital-first insurance industry.

These startups are competing with the country’s operations-heavy insurance sector, which has relied on offline mode for years to conduct its business.

“We expect models to change but manufacturers who deliver products, prices, claims and experiences will build long-term relationships with customers,” Dua said.

In January, Digit, backed by Canadian billionaire Prem Vats,
Unicorn becomes the first startup of the year. Unicorns are privately held companies that are valued at $1 billion or more.

Digit raised Rs 135 crore led by existing private equity investors A91 Partners, Fairing Capital and TVS Capital, valued at $1.9 billion.

Unlike peers such as PolicyBazaar and Coverfox, Acko, Digit and others have developed their own insurance policies.

These startups, categorized as ‘Insurtech’, which is short for technology-led insurance startup, have been a hot topic of discussion among risk-averse investors globally.

In 2020, the growing sector attracted deals worth over $7 billion globally, making it one of the fastest growing sub-sectors in the startup ecosystem.

Globally, companies such as Zhong Ang in China, Lemonade, Assurance and Trove in the United States are among the major insurtech firms.

In India in particular, stakeholders are particularly enthusiastic about the growth prospects of these companies as India’s insurance penetration is currently among the lowest in the world, which makes it difficult for digital-native, challenging entities to take on established firms. Creates an open market.

“We firmly believe in the long-term growth story of the Indian insurance sector. We believe Acko, with its disruptive business model and strength in execution, is well positioned to leverage sector tailwinds and emerge as a market leader in product design, distribution, underwriting and Keeps its sole focus on driving innovation in customer service. General Atlantic Managing Director Shantanu Rastogi.