The firm aims to increase this to over one million businesses within the next three years, the same timeframe within which it is also on track to reach profitability.
India-based firm SecureNow has reinforced its focus on commercial insurance issuance by building an end-to-end insurtech platform currently serving 25,000 small businesses across 150 locations. The firm aims to increase this to over one million businesses within the next three years, the same timeframe within which it is also on track to reach profitability. SecureNow’s platform covers the full range of commercial insurances including group health insurance, property, marine and liability covers and is the single-window for all insurance matters for its clients, including claims.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, traffic to SecureNow’s platform rose significantly as the traditional channels of distribution that required face-to-face selling were under stress. The company responded by providing covid-specific insurances, further automating the digitized user journeys and fast-tracking the digital enablement of wellness, OPD and claims processes for group health insurance. Small businesses can leverage the SecureNow self-service platform to buy insurance, with one in every seven of these customers now completing their transaction without any human assistance, a figure that is rapidly increasing month-on-month. The platform also caters to the increased requirements of medium and large businesses, which are able to manage multiple corporate insurances, file and track claims using the SecureNow proprietary insurance dashboard. As firms grow, they typically purchase at least two insurance products and several buy eight to ten. For each product, a firm requires at least three insurers to quote to ensure efficient price discovery. As a licensed insurance broker, SecureNow is able address these needs seamlessly.
In its last round of funding, SecureNow raised a total of US$ 6 million from Apis Insurtech Fund I, managed by Apis Partners LLP, and Charan Singh, founder of SelectQuote Inc. Both Apis Partners and Charan have deep knowledge of investing and building insurance firms and the investment will help develop the platform further, bundle value added services for clients, and increase client outreach. Elevar Equity was the first institutional investor in SecureNow.
“Businesses bravely face material risk every day. A quick look at our risk diagnostic tool would show you how some risks are existential and vary by industry. Still, insurance remains a low-involvement purchase. Clients want to quickly evaluate insurance plans for value and transparency. The only way to deliver this consistently is by ubiquitous use of technology across the buying journey. The proof of this is in our net retention rate, which is well over 100%. With scale, we increase our ability to consolidate demand and deliver better value for our clients. There are over 60 million firms registered in the country, the majority of which are underinsured. So, we have some ground to cover. Commercial insurance for businesses is likely to be one of the fastest growing segments within insurance”, said Kapil Mehta, co-founder of SecureNow.
Udayan Goyal, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Apis Partners said “We see a big opportunity in India to meet the needs of underserved businesses. Since there are so many different stakeholders in the insurance ecosystem, a successful venture must have deep insurance domain knowledge and know-how to leverage technology effectively. These are SecureNow’s strengths. They have a strong track record and are well placed to rapidly scale up.”
Charan Singh, founder of SelectQuote, said “I have closely watched the leadership at SecureNow build out the company. I have myself once been through the stage they are at now and can see that all the building blocks are in place. I’m delighted to be able to back SecureNow as it scales up to serve the needs of millions of businesses.”
Source: Business World
