SoftBank Vision Fund leads $200m round for India's PolicyBazaar

Existing investors, including Indian consumer internet platform InfoEdge, also contributed to the investment, according to a release. The new round will be used to support the company’s expansion plans.

PolicyBazaar was founded in 2008 and operates an online portal that allows consumers to compare competing bids for financial products. The company is best known for its general and life insurance marketplace, though it also provides quotes for consumer lending and credit through companion site PaisaBazaar. It receives over 100 million visitors every year and conducts nearly 300,000 transactions per month.

AVCJ Research's records indicate that PolicyBazaar has received almost $350 million since 2011 from backers including True North, IDG Venture Partners, and Wellington Management, which led a INR5 billion ($77 million) funding round last year. Temasek Holdings, Tiger Global Management, and Intel Capital have also invested in the company.

Its competitors include online insurance brokers Acko General Insurance and Coverfox, both of which are backed by Accel Partners and SAIF India.

SoftBank Vision Fund reached a first close of $93 billion last year, and targets majority and minority positions in private and public companies. Investments by the vehicle in India include e-commerce giant Flipkart – the acquisition of which by Walmart is expected to give SoftBank a full exit – and online hospitality platform Oyo.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Technology
• Financials
• Expansion
• India
• Softbank
• TMT
• Growth capital