Sequoia Surge leads $4 mn funding round in group insurance provider Plum

Bengaluru-based Plum Benefits, which operates group health insurance platform Plum, has raised $4.07 million (Rs 30.18 crore as per current exchange rates) in an ongoing seed funding round led by Sequoia-backed Surge Ventures II.  

Sequoia’s venture fund and accelerator programme has invested nearly $2 million in the startup in the latest round for a 10.82% stake, according to filings made with the Registrar of Companies.

Read: Seven Indian startups make it to third cohort of Sequoia Surge

Other new investors in the round include Tanglin Ventures and AL Trust, as well as other HNIs according to the filings. 

The company had in July raised $928,000 as part of the seed funding round, led by Japanese venture capital firm Incubate Fund. 

Founded in 2019 by Abhishek Poddar and Saurabh Arora, the company works with over 100 firms -- providing group health insurance cover to their employees -- as well as nine insurance companies, it said in a statement in July. 

Plum offers doctor consultation, health checkups as well as access to fitness centres for yoga and gym as well as nutrition. Plum’s clients include Twilio, INStawork, Posisit and StayAbode. The platform also provides visibility on claims usage and offers employees benefits on top up for their group insurance plans.

The insurance-tech sector has seen renewed investor interest in recent times. 

Dispute resolution platform for insurance customers, Insurance Samadhan, raised funds from Venture Catalysts earlier this year. 

In May, Pune-based insurance SaaS provider MetaMorphoSys Technologies raised capital in a bridge funding round, dubbed a pre-Series A round. 

Omni-channel insurance marketplace Turtlemint recently announced a $30 million fundraise.