Singapore-headquartered insurtech firm Igloo has been expanding its footprint across several countries in Southeast Asia with various product launches and partnerships after its fundraising activities over the past few years. The insurtech firm is now actively looking at merger and acquisition (M&A) target, as it continues its growing momentum besides expanding upstream into underwriting.

In late July, Igloo announced that it is extending its mobile app ‘Ignite by Igloo’ to the Philippines.

Ignite by Igloo is a digital platform developed by Igloo that helps agents sell easier, faster, and more effectively. Featuring over 40 types of plans across nine categories from insurers, Igloo said the platform has improved the efficiency of agents, helping them sell more.

TNGlobal has recently interviewed Igloo Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Raunak Mehta, to learn more about its plans in the Philippines, Thailand and across Southeast Asia.

“Sales intermediary distribution in Southeast Asia is still a very manual industry and hence is well-positioned for digital disruption. Sales intermediaries have come to love the ability to manage the end-to-end sales journey through Ignite. We now intend to bring that same level of convenience to the same space in the Philippines,” he said in the interview.

“Elsewhere, we intend to support the growth of our core businesses by expanding upstream into underwriting and are actively pursuing M&A opportunities that will allow us do this,” Mehta explained.

“This lets us own more of the insurance value chain and deliver scale economies which will eventually benefit the consumer in the form of better pricing and coverage. We believe that we can set ourselves apart from traditional insurers due to our deployment of technology and big data in the underwriting process,” he added.

Igloo is looking to expand its product offerings and actively looking for merger and acquisition opportunities, according to Mehta.

“For instance, we are looking to double down on motor, health, climate-related products, underwriting and claims digitization and AI and blockchain technologies,” he said. “We are also now positioned to actively look for suitable M&A targets that will help us scale horizontally or vertically.”

Igloo is a regional full-stack insurtech firm headquartered in Singapore. It has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia and tech centers in China and India.

Igloo announced in December last year it has closed a $36 million Pre-Series C funding round. Global investment firm Eurazeo, through its insurtech fund backed by the insurer BNP Paribas Cardif, led the investment.

Other investors include Openspace and La Maison. This latest round comes ten months after Igloo’s previous Series B+ fundraise led by BlueOrchard-managed InsuResilience Investment Fund II. In total, the company has raised $100 million.

Igloo Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Raunak Mehta

In the interview, Mehta shared the opportunities and challenges Igloo faces operating in several countries across Southeast Asia. He also shared Igloo’s competitive edge and his views on how Igloo competes with traditional insurance companies and banks in the insurance sector, among others.

Below are the edited excerpts: 

Igloo launches Ignite by Igloo in the Philippines to support digitalization of sales intermediaries in the country. Would like to know about Igloo’s plans in the Philippines. How big are Igloo’s operations in the country now and what is the expectation later on?

Our team is about 25 people, spanning commercial, operations, customer service, product and brokerage functions.

Our plan in the market is aligned to our overall mission – ‘Insurance for All’. To that end, we want to provide solutions to the entire insurance value chain – from insurers and sales intermediaries, to consumers, and the platforms that serve them.

We have established our experience and expertise in embedded insurance – evidenced by our partnerships like digital wallet brand GCash, e-commerce players Lazada and telco network Smart.

On this front, we will leverage our tech and product expertise creating seamless embedded insurance journeys for more potential partners across industries; logistics, fintech, ecommerce, offline-to-online businesses

We view our sales intermediary business Ignite as a growth driver in the next 12 to 18 months.

Sales intermediary distribution in Southeast Asia is still a very manual industry and hence is well-positioned for digital disruption. Sales intermediaries have come to love the ability to manage the end-to-end sales journey through Ignite. We now intend to bring that same level of convenience to the same space in the Philippines.

Elsewhere, we intend to support the growth of our core businesses by expanding upstream into underwriting and are actively pursuing M&A opportunities that will allow us do this.

This lets us own more of the insurance value chain and deliver scale economies which will eventually benefit the consumer in the form of better pricing and coverage. We believe that we can set ourselves apart from traditional insurers due to our deployment of technology and big data in the underwriting process.

What are the opportunities Igloo sees in the Philippines? Any particular products Igloo plans to introduce in the market?

Crop insurance and natural catastrophes (natcat) insurance has always been a hot topic of discussion.

These product lines are actively being discussed by the government and with the frequency of natural disasters and high-levels of financial loss, there is a big market for weather-related insurance in the market.

Product development for us has always been a collaborative effort with our distribution partners. Based on their customer demographics and purchasing patterns, we co-create affordable insurance products that best address the risks or emerging risks that consumers face.

Products like pet insurance, online shopping protection and Negosyo Care, designed for micro-small-medium enterprises (MSME) were born out of these kinds of collaborations. We are constantly in discussions with partners and potential partners on opportunities to protect the risks that consumers face from changing lifestyles and trends.

Rising demand of electronic vehicles and government policies to support the EV market for instance is something we are watching and working on closely in terms of what insurance products we can bring to the market to meet this demand.

Apart from this, we are exploring the B2B space where we hope to offer our industry leading insurance tech solutions to enterprises.

Where are the underserved segments? How to better serve the market? What are the strategies?

In the Philippines, we are focusing on underserved segments like MSMEs and freelancers, both of which are critical drivers of the country’s economy.

MSMEs make up a staggering 99.5 percent of the country’s business landscape and employ 62.8 percent of the workforce.

Despite their significant contribution, many of these businesses remain vulnerable to risks such as theft, illness, and natural disasters, often lacking the necessary financial safety nets.

To address this gap, we’ve partnered with Growsari and GCash to offer tailored insurance solutions that protect these businesses, ensuring they can recover swiftly from setbacks and continue to thrive.

Similarly, the freelancing industry is expanding rapidly, with over 1.5 million Filipino freelancers contributing to this dynamic sector. Due to the informal nature of their work, freelancers are particularly susceptible to risks like personal equipment damage, theft, income loss, and insufficient health coverage. Recognizing these challenges, we offer insurance products specifically designed to safeguard their essential tools, such as mobile phones and gadgets, providing them with the financial support needed to minimize disruptions and maintain their livelihood.

By delivering targeted solutions for the underserved segment, we’re not only helping them mitigate risks but also empowering them to sustain growth and build resilience in an unpredictable landscape.

Igloo has recently partnered with TrueMoney, a Thailand-based e-payment and financial service provider, to provide critical health insurance products to Thai users. What kind of growth is expected for critical health insurance products?

Given the recent 5.93 percent increase in critical illness insurance premiums in Thailand to 110 billion baht, we anticipate continued growth in this sector.

Factors such as rising healthcare costs, technological advancements, an ageing population, and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases are likely to drive demand for critical health insurance products.

As consumers seek greater financial protection against these escalating healthcare challenges, the market for critical health insurance is expected to expand significantly in the coming years.

a. Any expectation on the demand on insurtech products in Thailand?
The demand for insurtech products in Thailand is expected to rise as the insurance industry continues its digital transformation. Insurtechs are introducing innovative solutions that enhance efficiency, improve customer experience, and make insurance more accessible. They are also identifying key areas within the value chain where processes can be improved to better serve the digital preferences of Thai consumers.

According to the EY Insurtech Landscape in ASEAN report, insurtechs are positioned to drive growth by meeting evolving consumer demands, simplifying the insurance purchase process, and supporting new distribution models.

This trend suggests that the demand for insurtech solutions will continue to grow as they play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Thailand’s insurance industry.

b. What other insurance product(s) Igloo plans to introduce in Thailand?
We analyze consumer lifestyles and demand to conceptualize new insurance products that protect against emerging risks. Any product launches also hinge on the availability of strategic insurer and distribution partners. As and when we identify gaps in the market, we will work towards launching new products to fix that gap.

At the moment, we are looking at products such as seasonal disease, comprehensive health insurance, as well as some cyber related products such as online shopping and cyber protection.

What are the opportunities Igloo sees in the Southeast Asian region?

We are in a great position to add value across the insurance value chain – where inefficient, manual, non-digital processes are still pronounced and hinder the effective distribution of insurance to more people.

To that end, we will look to deploy portions of our product and technology offering as a white label or licensed solution to various companies within the insurance ecosystem.

While this is a very new strategic initiative for us, we have already generated a healthy amount of business development traction.

As we deepen our engagement with such partners we will adapt our technology to what suits the market and serve use cases which we do not yet serve. This initiative supports our mission of digitizing and democratizing the insurance industry.

Is there any market Igloo prioritizes and why?

We put equal focus on all our markets. They all have different opportunities and sets of challenges and we want to further our cause in all of them.

What are the challenges for an insurtech company like Igloo to operate in Southeast Asia which has different cultures, languages and regulations in various countries? What are Igloo’s strategies?

Our challenges aren’t so much from a culture and language variance standpoint as we have strong local teams that provide rich local experience and insights to the work we do.

Broadly, the success of insurtech players like ourselves have led to increased regulatory scrutiny of the insurtech space.

However, we view this as an opportunity to engage with regulators and to focus the entire sector on delivering solutions that truly benefit consumers. As the digital insurance distribution space matures we are also seeing increased competition in the form of traditional insurers moving into embedded insurance. This will naturally have downstream implications on pricing and margins.

Igloo faces the challenge of scaling operations in a sustainable manner, without ballooning our operating expenses and sacrificing the financial prudence that Igloo has come to be known for.

Where an early-stage startup looks at validating its business model and makes adjustments and improvements to its model and operations to get to product-market fit, we find ourselves now sinking our teeth into solving new problems and trying to deliver innovation and solutions at more parts of the insurance value chain.

For instance we are looking to double down on motor, health, climate-related products, underwriting and claims digitization and AI and blockchain technologies.

We are also now positioned to actively look for suitable M&A targets that will help us scale horizontally or vertically.

What is Igloo’s competitive edge against other insurtech companies in the region?

We have a truly regional footprint with our presence in six markets: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia – which give us a strong edge in understanding Southeast Asia partners, insurers and consumers.
We have also made a name for ourselves in pioneering innovations within the insurance sector, both in product development and distribution channels. To wit, we have introduced an array of unique insurance products – many of which have been industry firsts – leveraging emerging technologies to cater to the evolving needs and growing risks of individuals in Southeast Asia. These include products such as the Gamer’s Protection Insurance, Safe Dining Coverage, Pet Insurance, and our blockchain-based parametric insurance, Weather Index Insurance.

We have also demonstrated innovation in distribution through partnerships with ecommerce and fintech platforms across the region such as GCash, DANA, Shopee, Lazada, AirAsia, and Tokopedia to expand access to insurance products. As of today, we have a network of over 80 distribution partners and sold over 500 million policies through these platforms.

We have leveraged the learnings from each partnership and today, our speed to market in embedding a range of insurance products with partners is unparalleled.

Our standing in the industry and achievements have also been recognised widely; winning multiple awards such as ‘Insurtech of the Year’, ‘Best Insurance Employers’, ‘Fastest Growing Insurtech Company’, ‘100 ground-breaking tech companies’ amongst others.

How to compete with traditional insurance companies and banks? What is your competitive edge against these traditional channels/insurance companies?

I don’t necessarily think this is a zero-sum game. We are all players within the insurance ecosystem and as I have mentioned earlier we see ourselves as being able to bring our product and tech innovations, speed-to-market to help hasten the digitisation process for many more ‘traditional’ players plagued by legacy systems and processes.

Singapore’s Igloo closes $36M Pre-Series C fundraise with 50 percent valuation increase