The incumbent insurers still rely on paperwork and traditional policies. These are, however, irrelevant to modern-day customers.
The gap between traditional insurance policies and changing market dynamics brings an opportunity for young InsurTech companies to risk and innovate.
India boasts of 142 technology-based insurance startups to date, according to Tracxn Technologies. Here’s a list of top 10 insurance startups in India (in no particular order).
List of Top 10 Insurance Startups of India
1. Digit Insurance
Digit is an internet-first general insurance startup company launched in the year 2016. It covers insurance for cars, mobile phones, travel, bikes, jewelry, and health. Headquartered in Bangalore, it has bagged total funding of $100 Million from the time of its inception.
The key differentiators of Digit Insurance
Digit Insurance strives to simplify the overall insurance process. With a simplified documentation process, customers find Digit’s policies easy to understand.
It has also introduced a smartphone-enabled self-inspection process that can speed-up claim settlements to up to minutes.
Digit is the only Indian insurance company that’s holding a position in CB Insights global list of Top 250 FinTech. LinkedIn has also recognized Digit among the top Indian startups twice in 2018 and 2019.
2. Acko General Insurance
Founded in 2017, Acko is an auto-insurance startup disrupting the industry with its innovative technology. Its InsurTech solutions include low-cost insurance products fueled by high-level data analytics.
Acko provides complete and third-party insurance for cars and bikes. It also has a tie-up with Ola Cabs for micro-insurance services. Operating from Mumbai, Acko has reported total funding of $43 Million till 2019.
The key differentiators of Acko General Insurance
Apart from incredibly low prices for insurance policies, Acko lets customers buy policy completely online and in a fraction of time. It also ensures instant claim settlement for minor damages and within an hour pickup for the damaged car for repair.
More than 2.5 crore Indians are already using Acko insurance. The company also brags of over 95% satisfied customer reviews.
3. PolicyBazaar
One of the early startups in the InsurTech sector, Policy Bazaar was founded in 2008. It is an online marketplace for insurance policies.
PolicyBazaar compares different insurance policies based on price, quality, and benefits. Operating from Gurgaon, the company has raised a total of $372 Million of funding from different investors.
The key differentiators of PolicyBazaar
Customers can compare different policies and make an informed decision to buy them.
Covering a wide array of insurance policies, PolicyBazaar also hosts customer support, which customers feel has better services than contacting the Insurer itself.
The company has already provided 10L crore worth covers to its customers.
Also Read: 20 Most Successful Startup companies in India: Unique & Innovative
4. OneAssist
Starting in 2015, OneAssist has emerged as a leading aggregator of insurance products. It provides insurance for data protection and appliances.
Much needed in the era of the internet, this start-up solves the new-age problem of identity loss, dark web, and cyber-risks & attacks. OneAssist operates from Mumbai and has reported total funding of $32 Million.
The key differentiators of OneAssist
OneAssist’s Identity Risk Calculator is an innovative tool, which is alarming internet users for potential threats.
The company is partners with OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to offer repair and protection services to consumer durables like home appliances, gadgets, mobile phones, tablets, etc.
5. PolicyBoss
PolicyBoss is yet another online marketplace for different insurance policies. It lets customers compare and buy policies on their application.
Founded in 2012, PolicyBoss has gained total funding of $10 Million. PolicyBoss believes that insurance brokerage as a key distribution channel. It carries its main operations in Mumbai and has physical offices in 24 cities in India.
The key differentiators of PolicyBoss
The company provides advisory assistance, claim assistance, and customized insurance services along with customer support to its customers. It has already served over 300,000 Indian customers.
PolicyBoss aims to leverage the insurance brokerage platform as a bridge between insurance policies and policyholders/customers.
It negotiates with the insurer on behalf of its customer and makes the policyholder aware of special situations (if any) during the tenure.
Also Read: 9 Best and Most Successful Food Startups in India
6. InsureFirst
Incubated in Kolkata in 2016, InsurFirst has partnered with Aviva Life, ICICI Prudential and SBI to distribute its products.
Currently, it is providing health, motor, life insurance, home & assets, travel, and investment policies to individual customers.
At the corporate level, it is covering marine, fire, business interruption, commercial vehicle, contractor risk, workmen compensation, and trade credit risks.
The key differentiators of InsurFirst
It provides tailor-made insurance plans according to customers’ requirements. With this innovative system, customers are not compelled to buy a package or high-priced policy.
The company has already sold over 3000 policies accounting for over 60 Million INR worth of premium.
Also Read: Top 10 Housing Finance Companies in India
7. CoverFox
Set-up in 2011, CoverFox is one of the leading insurance startups of India. It provides a simple, fast, and secure platform for customers to buy and renew insurance policies.
It also provides a reliable platform for claim settlements. It has been able to acquire total funding of $42 Million to date.
Also, the company is backed by some of the insurance giants like Saif Partners, IFC, Catamaran, Accel Partners, and TransAmerica.
The key differentiators of CoverFox
CoverFox believes in its robust algorithm that simplifies the policy documents and presents it in an easy-to-understand language to the customers.
It helps in getting quotes from insurers instantly, which adds speed to the customers’ buying journey.
With over 30 insurance partners and 50 lakhs + customers, CoverFox has won several awards like The Smart CEO, Top 10 Fintech companies from Fintech Asia, Business World Techtors award collectively in the years 2016 and 2017.
Also Read: 35 Most Successful Women Entrepreneurs in India
8. PayTM Insurance
PayTM originally started its service as a digital wallet in the year 2010. In 2018, it declared its venture into the insurance sector as Paytm Life Insurance Ltd and Paytm General Insurance Ltd.
The key differentiators of PayTM Insurance
Customers can pay the premium and buy insurance from a common platform. It claims easy refunds on policy cancellations with the least questionnaire with the customer.
With an easy-to-use interface, customers can enter their preferences and view insurance policies as per their search queries.
Also Read: How to Decide the Term of Your Term Insurance Plan?
9. RenewBuy
RenewBuy is an online brokerage platform for motor insurance. It provides real-time quotes from different insurers.
The company was founded in 2014 and handles its majority of operations from Gurgaon. It has total funding of $15 Million to date.
The key differentiators of RenewBuy
Through RenewBuy, customers can compare and buy motor and health insurance plans instantly from leading insurers. It is also digitizing the agent-onboarding paradigm.
10. TurtleMint
Founded in 2015, TurtleMint is an online aggregator of insurance products and policies. It has headquarters in Mumbai. Currently, it is serving life, health, bike and car insurance sectors.
The key differentiators of TurtleMint
TurtleMint proposes a smart way to buy insurance plans. Instead of long paper-works, customers can directly buy insurance from leading insurers through its interface. This startup has sold over 3,00,000 policies online.
Final Thoughts
According to IBEF, the insurance market in India can reach $280 Billion worth by the year 2020. Moreover, Inc4 Datalabs reports –11 insurtech startups have already raised $337.8 Million in the Fiscal year 2018-19.
Innovative products and digitization are driving investments for insurance startups.
Instead of long-tail plans, startups are keen on introducing consumer-centric products and policies, which can be micro and even nano in nature.
Unicorn startups like Flipkart, Ola, PayTM are also venturing into the insurance space, which indicates the blurring boundary between insurance companies and other industry verticals.
Thus, the future calls a win for the best product and services in the insurance space.