Exclusive: Online motor insurance platform RenewBuy raises angel funding

RenewBuy, an online platform for auto insurance, has raised Rs 3.3 crore ($500,000) in an angel round of funding led by Mount Nathan Advisors Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based principal investment and advisory firm.

The portal, which is run by the Delhi-based D2C Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, will be using the money to develop its product and upgrade its technology platform.

"RenewBuy is powered by its proprietary technology whose algorithm seeks lowest premiums across leading insurers and throws up customised results," said Balachander Sekhar, co-founder of the firm.

The company, which has an insurance broking licence from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, claims to offer lowest premiums for insurance coverage for cars or bikes.

"We also offer claim assistance and provide reminder service so that our users never miss renewing their policy," said Sekhar, an IIM Calcutta alumnus.

Sekhar, who has previously worked with MetLife, Reliance Retail Insurance and

American Express, launched the company in July along with Indraneel Chatterjee and Sandeep Nanda. Chatterjee, an alumnus of Symbiosis International University, has over a decade of experience in the insurance sector and has earlier worked with PNB Metlife and Reliance Retail. An alumnus of Guru Nanak Dev University, Nanda has worked with Guavus, Aricent Group and Infosys.

The firm is also raising nearly $2 million capital from multiple investors, including Mount Nathan. "We will be raising the money by next month which we will be used for marketing and scaling up our business," said Sekhar.

The company, which has tie-ups with multiple insurers—including HDFC ERGO, IFFCO Tokio, Bajaj Allianz, Bharti AXA, Reliance General and L&T Insurance—claims to have sold 500 policies last month. "We charge 20 per cent commission on every policy depending on the type and size of the insurance," he said.

According to Sekhar, the motor insurance market in India is worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore and is dominated by the traditional brick and mortar companies. "There are not many players in the online segment. Although BankBazaar and

Policybazaar have entered the fray, they only involve in lead generation," he said.

The company claims that it offers discount of up to 60 per cent on premium rates.

Mount Nathan, which was founded in 2010 by investment banking professionals Manish Mahajan and Nitin Nath, focuses on South Asian special situations and emerging regional financial enterprises.

Mahajan, an alumnus of IIT Mumbai, has over 20 years of experience of which 17 years were with bulge bracket investment banks including JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. Nath, a Delhi University graduate, had worked for Deutsche Bank for 12 years.

Nath has been one of the investors in Sanctum Wealth, which recently bought the wealth management business of RBS.