<article>Go-Jek, Traveloka and Tokopedia have invested $5-8 million in insurance technology (insurtech) startup Pasarpolis, according to two industry executives aware of the development.</article>

Go-Jek, Traveloka and Tokopedia have invested $5-8 million in insurance technology (insurtech) startup Pasarpolis, according to two industry executives aware of the development.
Pasarpolis sells a variety of insurance options covering health, vehicle, accident, property, travel and life. These policies are underwritten by 30 major insurers, including AXA, AXA Mandiri, Lippo Insurance and Zurich. In addition, it has partnered with government-backed workers’ insurer BPJS Ketenagakerjaan as well as with Go-Jek to insure its drivers.
“We don’t comment on rumour or speculation in the market,” Traveloka said in response to a DEALSTREETASIA email query.
Pasarpolis, Go-Jek and Tokopedia had not replied to emails sent by this portal at the time of publishing.
This portal had in March reported that Go-Jek, Traveloka and Tokopedia were in talks to pick up a small stake in PasarPolis, which is believed to be valued at $12 million.
Indonesia’s insurance market is considered attractive due to its low penetration rates. According to the nation’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), domestic insurance penetration in the country stands at a low 2.99 per cent of the gross domestic product.
This pales in comparison to its Southeast Asian neighbours Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, all of which have national insurance penetration rates of at least 5 per cent.
Technology is widely seen as a big enabler in Indonesia to bridge the gap in the financial services market, with the country’s internet population set to grow to 145 million by 2020.
PasarPolis is seen to follow a similar business model as ZhongAn, China’s first online-only insurance technology company. Backed by Ant Financial, Tencent and Ping An, it sells all its insurance products online, along with handling claims.
Financial services, in general, and digital payments, in particular, have emerged as the new battlefield for startups and financial institutions alike in Indonesia. The market remains largely untapped — less than half of adults in the country own a bank account, while less than a tenth have credit cards.
Go-Jek claims to be Indonesia’s leading digital wallet provider, with over 100 million monthly transactions processed through its platform as it offers an array of on-demand services, including transportation, logistics, food delivery and payments.
CEO Nadiem Makarim has said that expansion of its Go-Pay digital payments services will be a key priority in 2018. This includes offering payment services beyond the Go-Jek ecosystem.
In December, Go-Jek announced the acquisition of three fintech firms – offline payments processing company Kartuku, online payment gateway Midtrans, and Mapan, which facilitates saving and lending for communities that lack access to traditional banking services.
The acquisitions were further testament to Go-Jek’s ambitions to become a leader in the payments space.
Online travel portal Traveloka joined the unicorn club in July last year by raising $350 million from Expedia. It also disclosed bagging an additional $150 million from JD.com, East Ventures, Hillhouse Capital Group and Sequoia Capital.
Last year, Traveloka and Go-Jek were both reported to have placed a bid to buy payments firm Fusion Payments but a deal failed to materialise as the two unicorns and other bidders – Singapore-headquartered Grab and Indonesia’s Emtek – pulled out.
Online marketplace Tokopedia raised $1.1 billion last year in a funding round led by China’s Alibaba. Modelling itself after Alibaba’s Taobao, the unicorn also has big ambitions for Tokocash, its digital wallet that was launched last year.

Go-Jek, Traveloka and Tokopedia have invested $5-8 million in insurance technology (insurtech) startup Pasarpolis, according to two industry executives.

Indonesia's unicorns said to invest up to $8m in insurtech startup Pasarpolis

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief

Indonesia's unicorns said to invest up to $8m in insurtech startup Pasarpolis

Start your deal-making journey now!

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief