Qoala Insurance Startup Invites BRI – Aruna to Target Fishermen

Insurance startup (insurtech) Qoala hooked up a fisheries start-up company, Aruna to develop a microinsurance product for fishermen. The company also collaborates with the insurance broker PT Mitra Jasa Pratama and the insurance company BRI Life.

Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Qoala Tommy Martin said the product is in the form of life insurance. This is because fishing is a high-risk job. “Insurance should be able to protect workers at the forefront, can be accessed quickly and easily,” he said in a press release, Friday night (2/4).

Qoala develops applications to provide products. Premiums for fishermen start from IDR 50 thousand per year with benefits up to IDR 19 million. For the claim process, fishermen will be assisted by the Aruna team at the Aruna Site.

Aruna is a marine and fisheries startup supported by East Ventures, AC Ventures, SMDV, and other investors. As of January, the company has hooked up 15 thousand fishermen.

Penetration of Micro Products to the Broad Community

Co-founder and General Director Aruna Utari Octavianty said that fishermen registered on the platform can provide photocopies of their National Identity Cards (KTP) and Family Cards to Local Heroes at the Aruna Site.

“Our team is the one that inputs data to the Qoala platform,” he said. The first location to become an experiment for insurance outreach is Masalembu. This is because it is located between the Makassar Strait, Java Sea, Flores Sea and Lombok Strait.

The meeting of the three water areas is considered to create physical strengths of the natural ocean and atmosphere interactions, with a high risk of accidents. However, these waters also have abundant and diverse fish potential.

In addition, life insurance for fishermen will be launched in Ujung Genteng, Jenebora, and Papaan. “For Aruna, fishermen are strategic partners who need to pay attention to their welfare. Moreover, going to sea is a high-risk job,” said Utari.

BRI Life Director of Marketing and Sharia Business Anik Hidayati added, the synergy with Aruna and Qoala is a momentum to penetrate micro products to the wider community, especially fishermen. “We are optimistic that this cooperation will run very well and prospectively. Besides providing real benefits for fishermen,” he said.

Targeting the Thai market, Qoala Acquires FairDee Insurtech

Insurtech company Qoala acquired Thai startup FairDee Insurtech. The acquisition will expand Qoala’s market in Thailand, which is the largest insurance consumer in Southeast Asia. Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Qoala Harshet Lunani said that this acquisition is a big step for Qoala to become the number one insurance company in Southeast Asia.

“FairDee and Qoala share the same vision of how insurance can bring peace of mind. Therefore, we are maximizing the development of technology to provide a better digital insurance experience for Thai people in particular, and people in Southeast Asia in general,” said Harshet in an official statement, Saturday (27/3).

Qoala was founded by Harshet with Chief Operating Officer (COO) Tommy Martin in 2018. Over the past year, Qoala’s business growth reached six times, as well as expanding its business by penetrating Malaysia and Vietnam.

Several venture capital companies support the Qoala business, starting from Sequoia Capital, Centauri Fund by Kookmin Bank and MDI Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Mirae Asset Management, Central Capital Ventura, MassMutual Ventures, and SeedPlus.

This made Qoala confident that he could expand his business to Thailand by acquiring FairDee. “With the integration of technology, Qoala provides insurance products that are affordable and in line with the dynamic needs of consumers in Southeast Asia,” he continued

FairDee has been operating in Thailand since 2019 under the management of Co-founders, namely Yujun Chean, Prateek Jogani, and Thanasak Hoontrakul, with a mission to help people access insurance products through digital platforms. In the past 18 months, FairDee has increased its annual gross written premium (GWP) by sevenfold.