In Startup50 2016: For building the MakeMyTrip of the online insurance segment and keeping its platform digital-ready for the millennial generation

Founders: Varun Dua (In Pic) And Devendra Rane

Incorporated in May 2013 by Varun Dua and Devendra Rane in Mumbai, the company is an online insurance broker, making insurance buying simpler and smarter. It currently houses 28 car, bike, home, health and travel insurance companies (of the 30 in these categories across India), and has recorded a turnover of Rs. 100 crore.

The growth factors

With over 250 employees, the company assists customers in their entire insurance journey, right from buying to claims settlement. To do this, it leverages technology and ensures customer-centricity across the company. The company works on a typical brokerage model wherein it takes 10 to 20 per cent commission based on the nature of the product.

So far, it has raised US $14 million from SAIF and Accel Partners in 2015 and an undisclosed amount from Catamaran in the same year.

It has seen organic traffic growth of 211 per cent, direct traffic growth of 92 per cent and revenue growth of 180 per cent (all annually). Its customer growth has been 206 per cent while the cost per acquisition has gone down by 68 per cent.

Core business model

The company’s core business model is to nudge customers towards unassisted sales, in short empowering them in terms of insurance buying. It achieves this by making the product easy to consume, by shortening the form and keeping the UI clean and simple, and creating a maximum of three to four fields that need to be filled in by the customer. Additionally, it doesn’t ask for a phone number before showing the insurance quotes and doesn’t fprce them to create an account to buy insurance from the site. Lastly, it acts as a technology company rather than an insurance company that tele-calls or spams the customer.

Facts in Numbers

Rs. 100 crore

(Turnover in FY16)

250

(Employee Strength)

206%

(Annual customer growth)