InsuranceDekho acquires SME insurance platform Verak

CarDekho’s insurance arm InsuranceDekho has acqui-hired Verak, a Mumbai-based SME insurance distribution company, Ankit Agrawal, founder and CEO of InsuranceDekho shared the development on LinkedIn.

This comes just after a couple of months when InsuranceDekho raised $150 million in a Series A round led by investors like TVS Capital Funds and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

"With this acqui-hire, InsuranceDekho will have a stronger foothold in this rapidly growing market and a stronger presence in the SME insurance vertical and micro-business insurance schemes," Agrawal said on Tuesday, 4 April 2023 in his LinkedIn post.

"Since its inception, Verak has had a solid foundation and ventured into the untapped micro-business insurance scheme, bringing small shopkeepers under the insurance umbrella for the first time and registering 30 percent MoM premium growth every month," he added.

Navi Mumbai-based Verak is less than a year-old startup that was founded by Rahul Mathur. Earlier Mathur had founded insurtech startup BimaPe and later shut it down. 

Talking about Mathur, Agrawal said, "Rahul holds a strong pedigree in the insurance sector, carrying work experience in the Indian and global landscape. Both Ish (Ish Babbar, co-founder & CTO of InsuranceDekho) and I are convinced of the sheet of passion he brings to the table."

InsuranceDekho is an arm of car-selling unicorn CarDekho. The startup was founded in 2016 by Agrawal and Babbar. It enables customers to evaluate several insurance plans following their needs and choose the most appropriate plan for life, property, and casualty insurance.

The fintech sector is currently gaining investors' interest. Most recently, technology-led non-bank finance company (NBFC) Avanti Finance Private Limited raised $24 million in a Series B round of funding from a couple of investors along with existing investors.

Last week, Pune-based LoanTap Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd acquired healthcare-focused fintech firm Unofin.