Regional InsurTech Igloo yesterday announced that it had successfully raised an additional $27m in its Series B extension, bringing a close to its Series B funding round at $46m.
The initial Series B capital raise of US$19m in March this year was led by Cathay Innovation, with further investments from ACA and other existing investors including OpenSpace.
This round of investment comprised a consortium of impact investors including BlueOrchard, Women’s World Banking Asset Management (WAM) and Finnfund. The InsuResilience Investment Fund II, initiated by German development bank KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and managed by impact investor BlueOrchard Finance Ltd., led the capital extension, along with WAM, Finnfund, La Maison, and Series B lead investor, Cathay Innovation.
To date, Igloo has been on a strong growth trajectory having cemented partnerships with over 55 companies across seven countries and over 15 products in its expanding product suite. It has facilitated over 300 million policies and increased gross written premiums by 30 times since 2019. Since its inception, Igloo has been making insurance accessible and affordable through data and technology in Southeast Asia and is the only InsurTech in the region with all major economies contributing to its performance.
Igloo has championed financial inclusion for underserved communities across the region to help build a more sustainable future in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). It has been at the forefront of addressing underinsurance for gig economy segments by providing comprehensive and competitively-priced insurance for delivery riders, through its Foodpanda partnerships in Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines, as well as Lozi and Ahamove in Vietnam.
Just recently, Igloo launched its first parametric Weather Index Insurance product in Vietnam - one of the top five rice exporting countries. Utilizing blockchain-based smart contracts the product automates claims payouts calculated using pre-assigned values for losses due to weather events or natural calamities - alleviating the loss of yield and livelihoods that paddy farmers face during adverse weather events. It is Vietnam’s first parametric insurance and the company’s first integration of smart contracts into insurance.
The additional funds provide Igloo with a comfortable multi-year runway. With 50% of Igloo’s team committed to research & development, the company plans to double down on attracting the best engineering, product, design and data talent across all geographies. Igloo is also in the process of identifying and closing on various M&A opportunities to help it move swiftly towards its vision for ‘Insurance for All’.
Mr. Raunak Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Igloo, said, “The support from our investors underlines the value of our technology proposition in making insurance accessible and affordable for the underserved communities, especially gig economy workers and MSMEs. As a leading InSurTech firm in Southeast Asia, building sustainable ecosystems is a prerequisite for us. We are now well positioned to leverage our expertise and accelerate our growth across the region and further strengthen our products and services portfolio that addresses the traditional insurance gaps.”
Igloo is the first full-stack InsurTech firm to emerge from Singapore. It has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia and tech centres in China and India. With a mission of making insurance accessible for all, the firm leverages big data, real-time risk assessment, and end-to-end automated claims management to create B2B2C insurance solutions for platform companies and insurance companies.
Source: asiainsurancereview.com