Nexus Ventures, Blume back insurance portal Turtlemint

Mumbai-based Invictus Insurance Broking Pvt Ltd, which operates online personalised insurance platform Turtlemint, has raised an undisclosed amount of funds in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners.

Blume Ventures also participated in this round, the company said in a press release.

The company said it will use the funds to ramp up technology and spearhead operational initiatives. It didn't elaborate.

Turtlemint was started in 2015 by IIT alumni and former Quikr colleagues Dhirendra Mahyavanshi and Anand Prabhudesai.

"We started Turtlemint as we saw a clear gap in the market beyond quote comparison. Turtlemint explains insurance jargon clearly and highlights policy features and fine print in a transparent manner," said Mahyavanshi.

Turtlemint offers customers choices from about 20 insurance providers. It uses a proprietary algorithm and data analytics-based platform to offer products.

The company only has web and mobile site versions now and will launch its app soon. It lists insurance products under car, two-wheeler and health insurance categories. The company plans to expand its product offerings by the end of 2016. Turtlemint's services are currently available only in Mumbai and it aims to be present in at least 100 cities over the next few months.

"We will add life, term life and travel insurance to our product portfolio by mid-2016," Mahyavanshi told Techcircle.in.

Turtlemint will compete with the likes of PolicyBazaar and Coverfox Insurance Broking Pvt Ltd, which operates insurance portal coverfox.com.

In September last year, Coverfox raised Rs 75 crore ($12 million) in its Series B round of funding from existing investors Accel Partners and SAIF Partners.

In April last year, PolicyBazaar raised around $40 million in Series D round of funding from PremjiInvest, the personal investment vehicle of Wipro chairman Azim Premji, among a set of existing and new investors.

Nexus Ventures ranked as the fifth most-prolific VC firm in India last year with 25 deals. The early-stage growth investor has backed companies such as OLX, ShopClues, Snapdeal, Delhivery, and RoadRunnr.

Blume invested in about 14 companies including Grey Orange Robotics and mobile payment service provider Backwater Technologies last year, according to VCCEdge, the data-research platform of VCCircle.