Policybazaar to raise $150 million in third quarter

Insurance aggregator Policybazaar plans to raise $150 million (about Rs 1,100 crore) as buffer capital during the third quarter of current fiscal.

Although the company doesn't require capital for business expansion, it may raise some funds as a buffer for unforeseen events, Policybazaar.com Group CEO and co-founder Yashish Dahiya told PTI.

"We might raise some capital as a buffer. In the future you never know what will happen. This year Covid-19 happened. What if something else happens in the future. We may raise about $150 million, but that is more for safety than for any plan. It may happen in the Q3," he said.

Meanwhile, Policybazaar expects to return to profitability this fiscal on the back of surge in demand for insurance products amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Growth over the last year is between 70 percent and 100 percent depending on insurance product, he said, adding, "this year we should be profitable. We were profitable in FY18, while FY19 and FY20 we were not quite profitable. So this (growth in business) will help us to become profitable from this year onwards."

He further said the company will look to consolidate its operations, invest in customer service and work towards capital efficiency as it looks to swing back into profitability this fiscal.

Despite booking a loss, the company's revenue jumped three-fold, while it doubled both market share and valuation at the end of FY20, he added.

During 2020-21, Dahiya said the company should log revenue of Rs 1,100 crore and post a marginal profit.

On insurance premium side, he said the current fiscal will close with Rs 6,000 crore as against Rs 4,000 crore in FY20.

As far as the other business Paisabaazar is concerned, he said there is some stress as demand for loans has come down significantly due to the Covid-19 crisis.