Indian online insurance startup Policybazaar becomes unicorn

Indian online insurance service Policybazaar has become a unicorn. The startup raised $200mn in its most recent funding round, which has helped it surpass $1bn valuation.

Policybazaar offers online price comparison and purchasing services for insurance. It is run by EtechAccess which also runs Paisabazaar.com, a site offering loans, investment and insurance services.

EtechAccess counts among its investors Temasek, Tiger Global Management, True North and Premhi Invest. Policybazaar has also previously received investment from IDG Ventures India Advisors, Steadview Capital Management and Ribbit Capital.

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According to LiveMint, Policybazaar’s co-founder and chief executive, Yashish Dahiya, stated: “SoftBank’s culture of backing disruptive businesses and industry leaders with long-term capital investments gels well with our own values and vision of creating a transparent and empowering financial products marketplace. We hope to gain a lot from their global footprint and experience.”

Munish Varma, partner at Softbank Investment Advisors stated: “We believe that the Indian insurance market continues to remain massively under-developed and Policybazaar, supported by SoftBank’s capital and ecosystem, is uniquely positioned to dramatically increase the adoption of insurance products in the country.”