India: PolicyBazaar bags $152m funding, led by SoftBank

Pedestrians walk past a SoftBank Group Corp. store in Tokyo, Japan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi

By Pramugdha Mamgain

May 6, 2019

EtechAces Marketing and Consulting Pvt Ltd, the parent of PolicyBazaar and PaisaBazaar portals, has secured about $152 million (Rs 1,059.4 crore) in the first tranche of its Series F funding round, led by Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund, according to the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) sourced by paper.vc.

The capital infusion also saw participation from InfoEdge via its subsidiary Diphda Internet Services, private equity firm True North, and Startup Holding.

SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited (Soft Bank), a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Vision Fund L.P. has invested about $68 million (Rs 473.27 crore) by subscribing to 10,371 Series F cumulative compulsory convertible preference shares (CCCPS) and five equity shares worth Rs 4,56,345 each of EtechAces.

Diphda Internet Services has injected about $59.3 million (Rs 413.59 crore) by subscribing to 9,059 Series F CCCPS and four equity shares, while True North has purchased 3,775 CCCPS and one equity share for an investment of $24.8 million (Rs 172.27 crore) in the company.

Last year in June, the PolicyBazaar parent had announced a fundraise of over $200 million in Series F round.

In July, Singapore state investment firm Temasek and Info Edge (India) Ltd co-invested $27.6 million (Rs 190.5 crore) in EtechAces. The company also counts New York investment firm Tiger Global Management among its investors.

Founded in 2008, Gurugram-based Policybazaar offers online services to consumers to compare and purchase insurance policies. The online insurance platform competes with Sequoia Capital-backed BankBazaar and Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures-backed Coverfox. It claims to account for nearly 25 per cent of India’s life cover, and over 7 per cent of India’s retail health insurance business.

Earlier this year, PolicyBazaar also strengthened its leadership team by appointing Rahul Agarwal, former technology officer at Lava Mobile, as CTO, and Jayant Chauhan as chief product officer.

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Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
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Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW