Indonesia’s unicorns Go-Jek, Traveloka and Tokopedia are in advanced discussions to invest in insurance tech (insurtech) startup PasarPolis, according to three people aware of the development. PasarPolis claims to be one of the first online portals in Indonesia to provide varying insurance options covering health, vehicle, accident, property, travel and life. It allows users to compare, select and buy insurance policies offered by around 30 leading insurers, including AXA, AXA Mandiri, Lippo Insurance and Zurich. In addition, it has partnered with government-backed workers’ insurer BPJS Ketenagakerjaan to allow workers to register for the programme.
Go-Jek offers its drivers insurance in partnership with PasarPolis. Go-Jek, Traveloka and Tokopedia are expected to pick up a small stake in PasarPolis, which is currently valued at $12 million, industry sources said. DEALSTREETASIA‘s email queries to the three unicorns and the insurtech startup about the funding had elicited no response at the time of publishing.
PasarPolis is seen to follow a similar business model as ZhongAn, China’s first online-only insurance technology company. Backed by Ant Financial, Tencent and Ping An, it sells all its insurance products online, along with handling claims.
Financial services, in general, and digital payments, in particular, have emerged as the new battlefield for startups and financial institutions alike in Indonesia. The market remains largely untapped — less than half of adults in the country own a bank account, while less than a tenth have credit cards. Technology is seen as a big enabler in this area with the country’s internet population set to grow to 145 million by 2020.
Go-Jek claims to be Indonesia’s leading digital wallet provider, with over 100 million monthly transactions processed through its platform as it offers an array of on-demand services, including transportation, logistics, food delivery and payments. CEO Nadiem Makarim has said that expansion of its Go-Pay digital payments services will be a key priority in 2018.
This includes offering payment services beyond the Go-Jek ecosystem. In December, Go-Jek announced the acquisition of three fintech firms – offline payments processing company Kartuku, online payment gateway Midtrans, and Mapan, which facilitates saving and lending for communities that lack access to traditional banking services. The acquisitions were further testament to Go-Jek’s ambitions to become a leader in the payments space. Online travel portal Traveloka joined the unicorn club in July last year by raising $350 million from Expedia.
It also disclosed bagging an additional $150 million from JD.com, East Ventures, Hillhouse Capital Group and Sequoia Capital. Last year, Traveloka and Go-Jek were both reported to have placed a bid to buy payments firm Fusion Payments but a deal failed to materialise as the two unicorns and other bidders – Singapore-headquartered Grab and Indonesia’s Emtek – pulled out. Online marketplace Tokopedia raised $1.1 billion last year in a funding round led by China’s Alibaba.
Modeling itself after Alibaba’s Taobao, the unicorn also has big ambitions for Tokocash, its digital wallet that was launched last year. It was reported to be eyeing an expansion of the digital wallet beyond its own platform, including a potential tie-up with Uber for payments.
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