Amazon leads $12m round for India's VC-backed Acko

Existing investor Catamaran Ventures also participated in the round, along with ChrysCapital co-founder Ashish Dhawan. The investment follows a $30 million round last year from SAIF, Accel, and Catamaran. It is aimed at helping Acko improve its new internet economy insurance products, which it began to offer this year.

Speaking to Techcrunch, Acko founder Varun Dua said Amazon’s investment gives the start-up further validation, particularly among India’s e-commerce entrepreneurs. Acko is planning to raise a further funding round next year in order to give it enough working capital reserves for the next three years, and is targeting global insurance firms as well as VC investors.

Before establishing Acko in 2016, Dua co-founded online insurance marketplace Coverfox, which is also backed by SAIF, Accel and Catamaran, along with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Unlike Coverfox, Acko offers its own insurance products rather than providing quotes from other insurers.

Acko launched its service offering personalized, small-ticket products mostly in the general and car insurance spaces, using data analytics to create personalized risk profiles for customers. Its internet economy products are aimed at e-commerce, ride-hailing and travel sites. Last month it launched passenger insurance for ride-hailing app Ola, covering riders for accidents and inconveniences such as missed flights due to traffic jams.

Since entering India in 2013 Amazon has invested in several technology start-ups, including financial marketplace BankBazaar and home services company Housejoy, and it acquired online payment platform Emvantage. Last month it committed $22 million to online lender Capital Float as an extension of its $45 million Series C round announced in August.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• South Asia
• Technology
• Financials
• Expansion
• India
• TMT
• Financial Services
• Venture