Times Internet unveils online insurance platform

Times Internet Ltd (TIL), the digital business arm of media conglomerate Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd (BCCL), has launched ETInsure.com, an online platform through which customers can buy insurance products.

The platform will offer insurance plans from seven insurance companies and is starting off with two-wheeler and car insurance offerings. It plans to offer health, life and travel insurance products also in the future, it said in a statement.

"The current experience of buying (insurance products) and owning an insurance policy is cumbersome and riddled with rampant miss-selling from pushy sales agents" said Mukesh Kalra, COO, ETMoney, Times Internet.

ETInsure.com will help customers "make informed decisions about their insurance needs," said Shankar Nath, principal officer and head, ETInsure.com.

ETInsure.com's competitors include PolicyBazaar.com and Easypolicy.com.

In April last year, Gurgaon-based eTechAces Marketing and Consulting Pvt Ltd, which runs PolicyBazaar, raised around $40 million (Rs 248 crore then) in its Series D round of funding from PremjiInvest, the personal investment vehicle of Wipro chairman Azim Premji, and other investors.

In January 2016, Easypolicy raised $2.2 million (Rs 15 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by media entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Ventures .

Times Internet aims to touch $1 billion in revenues in five years. The company previously said it is on course to record Rs 1,000 crore ($150 million) in net revenues in FY2016-17.

ETInsure is an addition to over 37 properties of Times Internet that include digital versions of Times group publications, entertainment-focused businesses such as Cricbuzz, Gaana, deals site Coupondunia, restaurant booking site Dineout and property portal Magicbricks. It claims to have a user base of 175 million, which is larger than that of Facebook in India.

BCCL publishes newspapers such as The Times of India and The Economic Times besides running a slew of TV channels that include Times Now and ET Now, among others.