Digital general insurance company Acko announced on Thursday, October 28 that it has raised $255 million in its latest round of funding led by private equity majors General Atlantic and Multiples Private Equity. The fresh funds have propelled the four-year-old startup to unicorn status by raising the company’s total valuation to $1.1 billion.
The Series D round of funding saw participation from new investors such as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Lightspeed, as well as existing investors such as Intact Ventures and Munich Re Ventures.
With a surge in interest of investors in Indian startups, Acko is now the 34th company to become a part of the unicorn club in India this year. Unicorns are privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more.
The latest fundraise is also presumed to have a secondary component, which is likely to take the round size from $250 million to more than $300 million, sources claimed. A secondary transaction involves an existing shareholder selling their stake to an incoming investor.
The Bengaluru-based startup was valued at around $400 million last year but its total funds raised up to date stand at $450 million. Its existing backers include Amazon, Accel, Elevation Capital, Ascent Capital, Intact Ventures, Munich Re Ventures and Flipkart’s co-founder Binny Bansal, among others.
The startup plans to employ the fresh funds to further invest in the healthcare insurance sector and scale its team, specifically within technology products and data science.
Varun Dua, Founder and CEO of Acko stated that the company will continue to focus on its primary auto insurance business and aims to invest over $150 million in the health business in the future. “We believe health insurance and a deeply connected ecosystem of health services that improve health outcomes for customers are today’s most urgent needs,” he added.
The startup confirmed that it has over 70 million customers, clocking a run-rate of approximately $150 million in premiums. Besides offering auto insurance, Acko is also a leading player in embedded insurance products like mobility and gadget insurance across digital platforms such as Amazon, MakeMyTrip, Ola, among others. It also provides insurance covers to nearly 1 million workers through its partnership with companies including Zomato and Swiggy.
