Apis leads $45m Series C for India's RenewBuy

The GP is investing via its second emerging markets financial services and technology fund, which raised $563 million in 2019 and typically makes investments of $30-50 million. Existing backers Lok Capital and IIFL Wealth Management also participated.

It brings total funding to about $73 million across three rounds since 2017, according to AVCJ Research.

RenewBuy aims to use technology to improve convenience and choice across the motor, health, corporate, and life insurance spectrum. It claims to offer a unique end-to-end digital featuring 50,000 certified point-of-sale advisors in 650 cities, who support an entirely paperless and contactless retail process.

Since its inception in 2015, the company has recorded about $140 million in annualized premiums and connected 2.5 million people with 35 insurance providers. It plans to increase the number of customers to 25 million in the next five years.

In the past four quarters, RenewBuy claims to have doubled the monthly run rate and achieved operational profitability, with COVID-19 having contributed to a significant increase in demand for insurance products. More than 60% of the business is focused on under-insured populations in semi-urban and rural areas in India. 

“With less than 10% of India’s 1.4 billion population currently insured, this sector represents a huge growth opportunity given the demographics and current penetration levels,” Udayan Goyal, a co-founder of Apis, said in a statement.

Apis is a prolific fintech investor in India, with recent moves including taking the lead in a $35 million Series B for payments provider Cashfree. Previous activity in the local insurance space specifically includes an investment of undisclosed size in Star Health & Allied Insurance.

RenewBuy faces significant competition in this segment from the likes of Acko, a similarly digital-native player that has received backing from Amazon, and Turtlemint, which raised a $46 million Series D earlier this year. The largest operator is PolicyBazaar, which has raised more than $600 million and expanded into the Middle East in preparation for an IPO.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Financials
• Expansion
• India
• Apis Partners
• IIFL Wealth Managment
• Financial Services
• Fintech
• insurance