Thai insurtech startup Sunday raises $9m as it prepares for Indonesian expansion

Thai insurtech startup Sunday said it has raised US$9 million in a pre-series B bridge round led by SCB 10X, the VC arm of the Siam Commercial Bank.

Other investors in the round include new and existing backers Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Quona Capital, and Line Ventures, according to a statement.

The Sunday team / Photo credit: Sunday

Founded in 2017, the Bangkok-based company is an end-to-end insurance products and services provider that uses AI to offer personalized packages. It uses machine learning to develop risk prediction engines that help the company recommend and price health and motor coverage.

What are its future plans? The company said it plans to use the new fund to bankroll its expansion plans in Thailand, as well as its next market, Indonesia.

More specifically, Sunday co-founder and CEO Cindy Kua told Tech in Asia that the company aims to continue growing its customer base for employee health benefits in Thailand, scale partnerships channels in both Thailand and Indonesia, and build out its digital agency channels in Indonesia starting early next year.

“Since Sunday has an insurance underwriting license within its group, we will also focus on driving growth and deploying more after-sales insurance and digital healthcare features in our Sunday Service super app,” she added.

For 2020, the company is gearing up its team to prepare for its Indonesian growth plans as it aims to double its revenue growth year on year.

How much traction has it gotten? Since its launch, the company claims to have logged more than 100% in year-on-year revenue growth.

Sunday attributed the majority of this growth to employee health insurance for corporate and small- and medium-sized enterprise customers, followed by electronics warranty protection.

Since the company’s last funding round in December last year, Kua said Sunday was able to grow its business-to-business channel for health insurance, scale its B2B2C partnership channels, and more than double its revenue base.

The Covid-19 crisis has spurred higher awareness for health insurance as well, Kua said, adding that the company is seeing its revenues steadily climb.

What challenges has it faced recently? According to the company, raising additional funding in the middle of a global economic recession was no easy feat. However, Kua said the pandemic has helped trigger higher awareness for the importance of health insurance.

“In a post-Covid-19 world, we believe demand for health insurance and services for individuals and corporates will continue to increase and drive the underlying growth for us. We aim to make a significant footprint and gain market share in the employee health benefits space, starting with Thailand,” she added.