Automobile insurance is Acko’s biggest revenue driver and the company also provides insurance for smartphones, laptops and other home electronics products.
Acko General Insurance said on October 28 that it had raised $255 million for growth plans in a Series D funding round, helping the online insurer achieve “unicorn” status with a valuation of $1.1 billion.
Growth equity investors General Atlantic and Multiples Private Equity led the fundraising, Acko said, while the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, venture firm Lightspeed and some existing investors also participated in the round.
Automobile insurance is Acko’s biggest revenue driver and the company also provides insurance for smartphones, laptops and other home electronics products sold on the India website of Amazon, which is also an investor in the startup.
Company founder and CEO Varun Dua said Acko, which started offering corporate health insurance about a year ago, will use the new fund to double the health insurance cover.
“We will have a direct-to-consumer health product launching early next year,” Mr Dua told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Mr Dua said the funds would be used to develop new insurance products, take them to customers, as well as foster partnerships in the wider health economy, including hospitals.
The company may also offer life insurance products in the future, although there were no immediate plans, Mr. Dua said.
Mr Dua said Acko would consider a public listing sometime in 2023 or 2024.
Acko, founded in 2015, competes in India’s congested insurance sector with players including SoftBank backed policy market and ICICI Lombard.
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