Less than two years after securing RM25 million in a Series A round, insurtech startup PolicyStreet has raised US$15.4 million (RM67 million) in its series B fundraising round.
Less than two years after securing RM25 million in a Series A round, insurtech startup PolicyStreet has raised US$15.4 million (RM67 million) in its series B fundraising round.
A press release from June 6 stated that Dana Impak, a mandate of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, was in charge of fundraising.
A major component of Khazanah’s Advancing Malaysia strategy, Dana Impak is an RM6 billion allocation spread over five years with the goal of boosting Malaysia’s economic competitiveness, fostering national resilience, and providing socioeconomic benefits to Malaysians.
According to a statement, Khazanah’s investment in PolicyStreet completes its Future Malaysia Programme, which aims to support the local startup ecosystem of business owners, startups, venture capitalists, and corporate venture programmes through collaboration with domestic and foreign partners.
The Future Malaysia Programme encourages investments in businesses like PolicyStreet that have risky business models but also have a positive socioeconomic impact on Malaysia.
Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Khazanah’s managing director, said, “Our investment in PolicyStreet aims to improve insurance penetration within the unserved and underserved segments which advocates inclusivity, providing better financial protection, increasing household resilience, and financial well-being.”
Dana Impak has implemented Khazanah’s impact assessment framework, the SEMARAK Initiative, into the investment evaluation process in an effort to produce socioeconomic impact across all of its investments.
The foundation of Khazanah’s impact thesis is the idea that innovative insurance solutions offered by insurtech companies like PolicyStreet provide meaningful coverage to the underserved and unserved, thereby improving financial security, household resilience, and promoting financial well-being for Malaysians.
The CEO and co-founder of PolicyStreet, Yen Ming Lee, stated: “By offering affordable insurance solutions, PolicyStreet is committed to empowering underinsured businesses and consumers.”
Altara Ventures, Gobi Partners, and Spiral Ventures, among others, provided significant support for PolicyStreet’s most recent fundraising round.
The insurtech startup plans to improve its technology and underwriting capabilities with the new funds.
They specifically want to increase its on-demand underwriting policies to increase access to protection. The team will be able to reach audiences that are underserved and underinsured in Malaysia and the region.
As their Series A lead investor, Dave Ng, general partner of Altara Ventures, stated, “We are proud of PolicyStreet’s to date achievements. In 2022, they increased their revenue by five times and served more than five million customers, achieving an insured sum of more than US$6 billion.
“In this fundraising campaign, we increased our support for this incredible team. We are eager to help the business with its efforts to expand regionally.
PolicyStreet is a full-stack insurtech company that provides digital and customised insurance solutions to consumers and businesses. It was founded in 2017 by Yen Ming Lee, Wilson Beh, and Winnie Chua.
In 2019, PolicyStreet received licences from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) as a Financial Adviser and an Islamic Financial Adviser, allowing it to collaborate with more than 40 insurance and takaful providers to offer financial advice, information, and claims support to its clients.
Additionally, it received licences from the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA) for general and reinsurer insurance in 2021.