Indonesian insurtech startup Fuse gets series A money from EV Growth

Fuse, an Indonesian insurtech company, has closed its series A round with “a couple of million” US dollars to help expand its presence in multiple cities in the country.

The funding round included participation from EV Growth.

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Carrying a license from the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (OJK), the company aggregates more than 200 insurance products in partnership with 30 local and international insurance companies with operations in Indonesia through its app.

The insurance products available on its platform include those for vehicles, property, travel, health, term life, critical illnesses, as well as digital insurance products that covers gadgets, cargo liabilities, and credit default insurance, among others.

With the new funds, Fuse looks to expand in eight major cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta, and increase its current partner base from 15,000 to 100,000 in 2020, Ivan Sunandar, Fuse’s chief operations officer and co-founder, said.

Currently, Fuse runs three business models, one of which is a business-to-consumer insurance comparison site. It also works with ecommerce platforms to offer microinsurance plans for their respective customers.

And through its latest app, Fuse Pro, the company enables agent partners to offer multiple insurance products to their customers, offering real-time calculation and fast disbursement of commissions.

“In the past two and a half years, we have already launched more than 80 app versions, 200 back-end versions in order to customize the need for our partners for different insurance products or companies,” said Sunandar.

The company has had over US$10 million in closings in the first three quarters of 2019, according to EV Growth managing partner Roderick Purwana.

According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, there is a positive outlook in Indonesia’s insurance market, which is being driven by economic growth, rising household incomes, and increasing market penetration. The regulations currently in place in the industry are also mostly seen as favorable.

Another Indonesian company looking to bank on that growth is Sequoia India-backed Qoala, which is looking to expand its presence in the country through growing its team and making senior hires.

Axinan, a Singapore-based insurtech player, also announced a partnership with Indonesia’s Bukalapak earlier this year to provide electronics and transit protection plans, with Sompo Insurance Indonesia as the underwriter.