The Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. Is stated to have acquired a minority stake in Policybazaar.com valuing the Indian online insurance aggregator at $1.5 billion, according to the sources familiar with the deal, as it tries to get a foothold in the country’s burgeoning insurance sector. Tencent holdings bought 10% of Policybazaar, half of Tiger Global Management LLC’s stake in the company,
The $150 million deal was stated to be signed earlier this week. Tencent, known for its dominant WeChat messenger app, has been an aggressive investor in Indian tech. based startups like ride-hailing service Ola, education platform Byju’s and food delivery platform Swiggy. The Shenzhen-headquartered company has been a recent entrant to the booming fintech sector, investing in digital banking services startup NiYo Solutions earlier this year.
Policybazaar, operated by ETech Aces Marketing and Consulting Pvt., is among startups seeking to disrupt the dominance of state-owned or bank-promoted insurers in a sector with tight regulatory controls. It allows users to compare and buy life, health or auto insurance policies directly on its website, without any intermediaries. India’s insurance market has massive potential as the country of 1. .3 billion is mostly un-insured or under-insured. Insurance penetration was estimated to surpass 4% in 2017 and projected to quadruple over the next 10 years from $60 billion, according to the government’s Brand Equity Foundation.