Rakuten Capital, the corporate venturing unit owned by e-commerce and financial technology firm Rakuten, co-led a $36m debt and equity round for UK-based insurance financing service PremFina yesterday.
The round was co-led by venture capital firm Draper Esprit and included VC funds Thomvest Ventures and Rubicon Venture Capital, VC fund manager Emery Capital, VC firm Talis Capital and PremFina’s founder and CEO, Bundeep Singh Rangar.
PremFina provides financing to support the lump sum a customer needs to pay to an insurance company in order to secure an insurance policy, regaining the capital through monthly repayments that include a finance charge.
The company has also built a software platform that allows insurers to offer the option as part of their service. It will spend the funding on accelerating growth in its home market.
Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel, managing partner of Rakuten Capital, said: “Rakuten sees outstanding growth potential in PremFina’s business model of promoting insurance inclusion and providing access to affordable insurance.
“We are excited to support the growth of PremFina’s innovative business in the UK and internationally.”