The InsuResilience Investment Fund (“IIF” or the “Fund”) managed by leading impact investment manager BlueOrchard Finance Ltd (“BlueOrchard”) today announced an agreement to invest up to USD 6.7 million investment in Probus Insurance Broker Private Limited (“Probus” or the “firm”), a leading retail insurtech firm based in India. IIF is set up on behalf of the German government by KfW.
Probus offers climate insurance coverage in India, a country highly exposed to various climate risks. The firm targets the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, where insurance penetration is currently very low. Probus has comprehensive, tailor-made product offering with more than 80% of its reach in the financially weakest cities of the country and rural areas. Probus significantly contributes to the introduction of affordable insurance coverage in India, leveraging a fully digitized underwriting and claims platform. The firm has a strong local footprint and distribution network, covering over 400 cities. Probus is expected to reach out to more than 3.5 million climate insurance beneficiaries by 2026.
“Probus’ business model is well suited to expand the growth of climate insurance products in Tier 2&3 cities[1] and rural areas, while contributing to job creation within its network of digital partners. We are impressed with how Probus has evolved from a traditional insurance player to a leading insurtech firm. It’s all the more impressive that they have boot-strapped this growth and we are excited to be the company’s first external investor. We believe this is a great opportunity to partner with a firm that has shown real dedication to expand insurance coverage for low and middle income segments of the population, especially those located outside of Tier 1 cities”, comments Mahesh Joshi, Head of Private Equity Investments - Asia at BlueOrchard.
IIF will be appointing members to the Probus Board of Directors and closely work with the company on a clearly defined value creation plan aimed at enhancing the governance framework, strengthening the firm’s technology infrastructure and driving new products. IIF will add value to the firm through a structured technical assistance program, including feasibility studies for entering new lines of business, as well as initiatives aimed at increasing insurance and natural disaster awareness amongst end customers and partners.
“We are delighted to be partnering with IIF and building our relationship with the world’s leading impact investor. We look forward to working with BlueOrchard’s team to bring world class innovations to the Indian market. This partnership will help us in realising our dream of increased insurance awareness and penetration across the segments of the population that usually have limited access to insurance and the protection it affords,” says Rakesh Goyal, Managing Director of Probus.
The investment in Probus aligns with the vision and principles of IIF and the InsuResilience Global Partnership (“the Partnership”), which was launched at the 2017 UN Climate Conference COP23 by Germany. The vision of the Partnership is to strengthen the resilience of developing countries to the effects of climate change and to protect the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people against extreme weather events and natural disasters. The Partnership's objective is to enable more timely and reliable post-disaster response and offer insurance solutions to reduce impacts and help poor and vulnerable people recover more quickly.
[1] Classification based on the system used by the central government of India for payment of house rent allowance. There are 9 Tier 1 cities each with population of 5m+ and 97 Tier 2 cities each with population of 100k+. Rest of the cities are categorized as Tier 3.