Paytm could be spending big money for its insurance debut

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Paytm could be spending big money for its insurance debut
Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma
  • Paytm is reportedly in talks to acquire insurtech startup Coverfox for $120 million.
  • Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm founder and CEO, had earlier in an interview with Business Insider said that they are looking at the insurance sector.
  • If closed, this could be one of Paytm’s biggest acquisitions.
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Paytm which has made its mark in the Indian digital payments space is reportedly looking at acquiring insurtech startup Coverfox for a whopping $120 million, reported ET.

The reports say that the talks are in early stages, still. Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma had earlier told Business Insider in an interview of their plans to expand financial offerings.

“This year, we plan to double down on payments to reach Tier 5 and 6 cities of India. We are also looking at expanding our financial services – Insurance is one of the sectors that we want to get into,” Sharma had told BI.

There are over 142 insurtech startups in India according to Tracxn. Online insurance industry in India is reportedly all set to be worth ₹200 billion by 2020.

If it is closed, this deal would be Paytm’s biggest acquisition so far, marking its grand debut into the insurance sector. It will then compete with the likes of Policybazaar, also funded by Paytm’s investor – Softbank. Paytm’s valuation is set to hit $18 billion, according to reports.

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However, when reached out, Coverfox said, "As a company policy, we do not comment on speculation."

Coverfox, whose parent company is Glitterbug Technologies, was reportedly in the market looking for a fresh round of funding of $50 million. Its latest valuation is reported to be around $150-$200 million.

In its last funding round in April 2018, the insurance aggregator had raised $22 million in a Series C funding led by IFC, Transamerica and existing investors - SAIF Partners, Accel and NR Narayana Murthy’s private investment arm - Catamaran Ventures.

Coverfox was started in 2014 by Devendra Rane and Varun Dua. Two years later, Dua had gone on to found another insurtech startup Acko General Insurance.

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