Balachander Sekhar and Indraneel Chatterjee had been working in the insurance sector for close to two decades, before starting RenewBuy. While working in the sector, they realised the major gaps in insurance, which led to low insurance penetration in the country. “India’s insurance penetration was at 2.71% in 2001 (this has steadily increased to 4.2% in 2021, but still remains below the global average of around 7.23%). The low insurance gap led to the birth of RenewBuy’s concept,” says Sekhar.
According to him, the idea was to build an InsurTech company which disrupts the traditional insurance eco-system, and makes insurance simplified and accessible, especially in the Tier 2/3 markets and beyond. “India’s insurance accessibility lies majorly in the Tier 1/metro cities; and there are close to 700 million people in the country, who need insurance and have the purchasing power, however, they do not have accessibility. Those millions of underserved, live in the Tier 2/3 cities and beyond; that is where insurance needed an outreach,” he feels.
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RenewBuy was established in 2015 to reach out to those consumers in the smallest markets. Over the last six years, the company built a strong technology led infrastructure, driven by a national network of insurance advisors. “Our business is growing where we are working around multiple projects across verticals. In terms of our consumer outreach, we have an existing consumer base of more than 3 million. Our dream of making insurance penetrate into the Tier 2/ 3/ 4 cities and beyond is now a reality; our insurance outreach is spread across 800 plus towns and districts, and almost 75-80% of the consumer base lies in the smaller markets. We expect to reach out to 25 million consumers in the next few years,” says Sekhar.
In the product category, RenewBuy is co-creating customised products in the health and life insurance categories. It has recently launched its very first OPD based health insurance, (which comes with additional wellness benefits), and has a customised coverage, ranging from Rs 2-5 lakh. “We are also looking at strategic investments,” says Sekhar. “We recently acquired Artivatic (an AI-based InsurTech company) which is helping RenewBuy extend its Insurtech solutions across the entire value chain – from sales, to underwriting and claim solutions.”
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The business is growing, and performance is aligned with the vision of the company, says Sekhar. “We are also investing into acquiring top, mid and entry level talent along with building our national network of insurance advisors. We aim to double the current insurance advisor network of 1,00,000 plus insurance advisors, by 2023. We are moving towards profitability; we have been growing consistently as per plans, quarter-on-quarter,” he adds.
EXPANSION MODE
- RenewBuy has recently launched an OPD based health insurance plan
- Presence across 800+ districts in India
- Aims to double current insurance advisor network of 1,00,000 agents by 2023
- Expects to reach out to 25 million consumers in the next few years
