PolicyBazaar, the online insurance listings arm of India-based marketing and consulting group ETechAces backed by corporate investors Info Edge, Intel, SoftBank and Tencent, has raised $75m, TradeArabia reported on Tuesday.
Hedge fund manager Falcon Edge Capital led the round, which lifted the company’s overall funding to $630m according to TechCrunch, citing financial data aggregator Tracxn.
Formed in 2008, PolicyBazaar is an online marketplace where users can compare and purchase insurance policies directly from providers. Its sister platform, PaisaBazaar, supplies banking products such as loans, credit cards and mutual funds.
The funding will support the company’s entry into the Middle East markets, particularly in the United Arab Emirates through its PolicyBazaar UAE subsidiary.
Yashish Dahiya, PolicyBazaar’s co-founder and CEO, said: “We aspire to bring the powerful solution that we offer customers and manufacturers in India, to the UAE. The coming financial year, we aim to scale five-times in size and scale.”
PolicyBazaar was reportedly seeking $250m in funding at a $2bn valuation in July 2020, and it now intends to raise $500m for an initial public offering in the next 12 to 15 months, according to Times of India.
SoftBank Vision Fund, a vehicle for internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, provided $130m for ETechAces in June 2020, consisting of $50m in a primary transaction and $80m through a secondary offering, to acquire a 15% stake.
Internet group Tencent bought a 10% stake in the company from investment firm Tiger Global Management for $150m in November 2019.
SoftBank Vision Fund had participated in a $152m series F round six months earlier, investing alongside classified listings provider Info Edge’s Diphda Internet Services unit, Startup Holding and True North.
Info Edge and Intel Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of chipmaker Intel, joined Inventus Capital Partners to back a $5m series B round for PolicyBazaar in 2013, after Info Edge had injected an undisclosed sum in seed funding two years before.
ABG Capital, IDG Ventures India, PremiInvest and Ribbit Capital are also among the company’s shareholders, as are Steadview Capital, Temasek, True North and Wellington Management.
