Digital insurance provider Acko has secured $60 million in its Series D funding round led by Munich Re Ventures along with the participation of existing backers including Amazon, RPS Ventures and Intact Ventures.
With the fresh money, Acko is planning to accelerate its growth in existing lines and expansion into new product lines, said the company in a statement. In November 2019, the company had raised $36 million from Binny Bansal and Ascent Capital. To date, the four-year-old Mumbai-based startup has raised over $200 million, out of which $30 million was as seed capital.
“Munich Re has been a strategic partner to Acko since inception and we are really excited to bring them on board as our investor. As one of the largest reinsurance companies globally, their investment shows confidence in our data and technology-driven business model,” said Varun Dua, CEO of Acko in a statement.
A TechCrunch report put the market valuation of the company at around $500 million. Avendus Capital was the financial advisor to Acko for the deal.
Led by serial entrepreneur Dua, Acko utilizes data and analytics to provide highly personalized direct-to-consumer automotive insurance products. It also works with third parties to offer micro-insurance facilities around the services of other brands. For instance, it has tied up with Ola and Oyo to insure the rides and stay of customers respectively.
Amazon, redBus, Zomato, UrbanClap and close to 20 other partners across the travel, cab-hailing and e-commerce category have a similar partnership with the insurance technology firm.
Besides, Acko also offers contextual bite-sized solutions for digital consumers, such as screen protection for smartphones. The company claims to have issued over 650 million policies to over 60 million unique customers so far.
Earlier in April, Acko had laid off 45-50 employees of its 480-500-strong workforce to conserve cash in light of the tightening market conditions in the middle of a lockdown introduced to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
