Fuse Gets Funds, Meanwhile Qoala Develops Services

Emtek and EV Growth participate in a Series B funding round to insurance startup (insurtech), Fuse. This investment is led by GGV Capital. In addition to Emtek and EV Growth, the investors involved are SMDV, Golden Gate Ventures, and Heyokha Brothers. 

Fuse will use these fresh funds for product and platform innovation, as well as expansion into other markets in Southeast Asia. 

“We will continue to invest in product development and platforms that make insurance more accessible and affordable for all in Southeast Asia,” said Fuse founder and CEO Andy Yeung in a press statement, Friday (13/8). 

Fuse was founded by industry veterans Andy and Ivan Sunandar in 2017. Andy claims that his company is the first insurtech in Indonesia to pioneer an agent-based model or agent-focused model in solving the last mile trust problem or the last mile trust gap. 

That’s because Fuse noted that 97% of Indonesians do not have insurance or do not trust the current system. The insurance startup also offers a fully digital experience in terms of premium management and fast claims processing. 

Partnering with 30 Insurance Companies 

Fuse has more than 50 thousand partner agents. Total gross premium income or GWP exceeded US$ 50 million or around IDR 720 billion last year. 

“Finally, we will accelerate the replication of the successful experience in the Partner Agent model and micro-insurance (micro-insurance) to other regions in Southeast Asia, besides Indonesia and Vietnam,” said Andy. 

Fuse partners with more than 30 insurance companies. In addition, it has more than 300 insurance products that include employee benefits to digital insurance in e-commerce. 

GGV Capital Managing Partner Jenny Lee said, “Fuse is the first insurtech portfolio in Southeast Asia. This is because we believe they have the most prudent approach to insurance distribution in the region,” he said. 

The US-based investor is also optimistic that Fuse’s agency partners can bridge the “trust deficit” between insurance brands and consumers. 

“To complement the agency model, Fuse pursued other distribution strategies all of which achieved impressive traction,” he said. 

East Ventures Managing Partner Roderick Purwana added, the company was impressed with GWP Fuse which grew by more than 250% every year. 

“We believe they will grow even bigger this year and beyond. We are committed to supporting Fuse to replicate its success in other Southeast Asian countries,” he said. 

On the one hand, Emtek has also invested in startups several times. These startups include Waresix logistics, Waresix e-commerce, Kudo offline to online (O2O) shopping service, and many more. 

Qoala Develops Micro Insurance through Smartphone Protection 

The presence of microinsurance allows all levels of society to have insurance as a protection mechanism for potential risks faced in the future. 

Microinsurance has the characteristics of simple, uncomplicated registration and claim processes, and affordable prices. A startup engaged in insurance technology or insurtech, Qoala, is also developing microinsurance. 

Smartphone protection is one of the micro insurances developed by Qoala. According to Charles, smartphones have now become a primary need that can support everyone’s daily productivity. 

Damage to a smartphone will certainly have an impact on many aspects and the cost of repair or replacement can be very expensive. 

Keep in mind, the official warranty only guarantees smartphone damage due to factory defects and software problems, while damage due to smartphone user negligence is not guaranteed. 

One of the latest efforts by Qoala in distributing this insurance product is by cooperating with the e-commerce platform Shopee. 

This collaboration also involves PT Asuransi MSIG Indonesia and insurance broker PT Mitra Jasa Pratama. Qoala offers protection for every purchase of a new smartphone brand Xiaomi, Samsung, and Infinix through the Shopee application.