Ex-Grab CTO’s insurtech startup teams up with D2C healthcare marketplace

Igloo, an insurtech startup based in Singapore, has teamed up with HD, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) healthcare marketplace, to provide health-related microinsurance products in Thailand via the HDmall platform.

Raunak Mehta, Igloo’s chief commercial officer / Photo credit: Igloo

Non-life insurance company Muang Thai Insurance (MTI) will be underwriting health insurance products such as cancer and mobile syndrome insurance, among others.

HD leverages ecommerce tech to connect direct-pay patients to hospitals and healthcare SMEs, with the mission to bring affordable healthcare to users. The healthtech startup currently has a user base of 6 million.

Wei Zhu, who was chief technology officer at super app Grab, founded Igloo in 2016. It used to be known as Axinan, but it was later rebranded with a vision of “insurance for all.” The startup expanded its operations into Vietnam and Malaysia this year.

“HD’s healthcare marketplace and unique access to millennial and Gen Z patients is the perfect fit for us to implement our technology of digital insurance that is relevant in today’s world. Igloo will continue to look at expanding its partnership in the digital health space across the SEA region,” said Raunak Mehta, chief commercial officer at Igloo.

Across Southeast Asia, nearly 40% of healthcare expenditure is paid out of pocket compared to 10% in the US.

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“We see Igloo’s innovative microhealth insurance technologies as a perfect complement to our focus on unlocking the US$24 billion direct-pay healthcare opportunity in emerging Southeast Asia,” said Sheji Ho, CEO and co-founder of HD.