Policybazaar raises $75 million for UAE expansion

PB Fintech-run online insurance aggregator Policybazaar has raised $75 million in a fresh funding round led by New York-based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital. 

The fresh infusion is expected to back the fintech firm’s UAE business, people with knowledge of the development told TechCircle. 

The identities of other participants in the round could not be established.   

In October 2020, Falcon Edge Capital had acquired a stake in Policybazaar via a secondary transaction. Homegrown private equity firm True North also sold a partial stake at the time.  

The new round comes just weeks after Bay Capital invested an undisclosed amount in the Gurugram-based company via a secondary deal.  

Policybazaar became a unicorn in 2018 when it raised $200 million in a growth funding round -- Series F -- led by SoftBank.   

Last year, Inventus Capital too offloaded 1.67% stake in the company for $25 million, according to reports. In 2019, Tiger Global sold 10% stake in the company to Tencent at a valuation of $1.5 billion. 

The insurance aggregator has attracted a lot of interest from investors ahead of its IPO. Other key investors in the company include Premji Invest, Temasek, Info Edge and Ribbit Capital. 

The company, which is likely to go public in 2021 or 2022, had raised $47.4 million in the second tranche of Series F round from SoftBank last year. Media reports also mentioned a secondary component of $80 million, which could not be ascertained independently by TechCircle at the time. 

Founded in 2008 by Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal, PB Fintech, formerly called Etechaces Marketing and Consulting, operates a total of seven businesses. It runs online insurer Policybazaar, online marketplace of financial products Paisabazaar, as well as call centre operator Icall Support Services, online healthcare services provider Docprime Technologies, and motor vehicle claims and related assistance services provider Accurex Marketing and Consulting. 

The other two entities are PB Marketing and Consulting, earlier called Policybazaar Insurance Broking, and PB Fintech in the United Arab Emirates. Both entities provide online, offline and direct marketing of insurance products. 

PB Fintech narrowed yearly losses by 11.7% in financial year ended March 2020, as per the latest regulatory filing. The company said its losses for the period stood at Rs 304.03 crore, compared to Rs 344.20 crore a year earlier. Its total revenue rose 61.7% to Rs 855.56 crore in financial year 2019-20.   

On a standalone basis in the reported period, Policybazaar recorded total revenues of Rs 518.84 crore, up 66% year-on-year. Its total loss ballooned 2.4% to Rs 218.16 crore.