Rural Insurtech Platform GramCover Raises Pre-Series A Funding from EMVC, Flourish, Omidyar Network India, and Omnivore

GramCover, India’s leading rural insurtech platform, announced today that it has raised pre- Series A funding from EMVC, Flourish, and Omidyar Network India. Existing investor Omnivore also participated in this round.

GramCover is de-risking rural India by leveraging technology and its point of sale (POS) network to make insurance accessible for all. The company is creating a seamless ecosystem for delivery of insurance products including crop, livestock, health, motor, life, and asset insurance that address the needs of rural India.

Based in Noida, GramCover was founded by Jatin Singh, who earlier launched Skymet, India’s leading private weather company. Registered as a composite broker, GramCover has become the preferred choice for insurers to access Bharat (rural India). Over 1.3 million Indian farmers have purchased insurance through GramCover since inception, and the company brokered USD 10 milion of insurance premiums in FY2019-20.

Commenting on the pre-Series A funding, Jatin Singh, Co-Founder of GramCover, noted, “With GramCover already having achieved breakeven on the bottom line, we are well poised to make further investments to grow our reach and develop new lines of business. We are very excited to partner with fintech-focused VCs like EMVC, Flourish, and Omidyar Network India as we build the largest insurtech platform for rural India. India’s farmers and rural communities are massively under-insured, and GramCover is working every day to design and distribute innovative insurance products to meet their needs. Our vision is to cater to 5 million rural consumers in next two years.”

According to Melissa Frakman, Managing Partner at EMVC, “GramCover is at the forefront of digital disruption for last-mile insurance and financial services delivery, scaling insurtech innovation tailored uniquely for India’s largest and least-digitally-served population. We look forward to partnering with the GramCover team as they continue to refresh a legacy industry for the deep benefit of their customers, partner institutions, and the ecosystem.”

Amol Warange, Director - Investments at Omidyar Network India, also noted, “Jatin has a keen understanding of the Indian rural consumer and we’re delighted to be a part of this journey. We believe insurance plays a critical role in helping individuals build economic resilience. GramCover, with its technology-led approach, is taking insurance to India’s most hard to reach population segments, helping them cope with unexpected risks, and thereby create a meaningful life for themselves.”

GramCover is de-risking rural India by leveraging technology and its point of sale (POS) network to make insurance accessible for all. For more information on GramCover.

Emphasis Ventures (EMVC) is a boutique strategic venture firm that invests in transformative early stage fintech and insurtech. Based in the US and in partnership with a consortium of the largest and most influential financial services companies across the world, EMVC makes equity investments in early-stage innovation from India that has domestic reach and strategic relevance to global markets. Its investment team is led by financial technology investors and operators who provide hands-on support to entrepreneurs and guidance to its global network.

Flourish is an evergreen, early-stage venture fund investing globally in entrepreneurs whose innovations help people achieve financial health and prosperity. Spun out of Omidyar Network in 2019 with an existing portfolio of $200 million, Flourish received a new commitment of $300 million from Pam and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. Flourish invests in a number of themes in fintech, insurtech, regtech and other technologies, as well as supports nonprofit organizations, that empower people and help foster a fair, more inclusive economy. Flourish is managed by a global team with offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC, London, and India.

Omidyar Network India invests in bold entrepreneurs who help create a meaningful life for every Indian, especially the hundreds of millions of Indians in low-income and lower-middle-income populations, ranging from the poorest among us to the existing middle class. Omidyar Network India is part of The Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of companies, organizations and initiatives, supported by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay.

Omnivore is a venture capital firm, based in India, which funds entrepreneurs building the future of agriculture and food systems. Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India, backing over 20 startups since 2011.

Wealthy.in Raises $1.3 Mn from Good Capital, EMVC and others to Build a Network of Technology Enabled Wealth Managers

In a funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm, Good Capital, Wealthy has raised USD 1.3 Million. Fintech venture capital firm, Emphasis Ventures (EMVC), also participated in the round. Wealthy’s previous investors include Venture Highway, Tracxn Labs, V1 Capital and Globevestor.

Founded in 2016, by Prashant Gupta and Aditya Agarwal, Wealthy is a fast-growing Fintech platform that enables professionals and other individuals to become Wealth Managers by providing them with digital financial products and training to succeed as independent entrepreneurs. This round of funds will be utilised to scale up its partner base and to continue further development of the platform to offer more financial products.

“Our focus is to build a strong base of partners that we call Wealth Managers. Over the last three years, we have realised that though there is a growing demand for online financial solutions that are convenient and paperless, there is an underlying trust issue that deters most end customers to build meaningful relationships. Our partners are helping solve this trust deficit by bringing a rules-based advisory experience to customers in their trust network” says Aditya Agarwal, co-founder of Wealthy.

Prashant Gupta, Co-Founder of Wealthy adds, “Our latest Fund-Raise will help us fast track the process of onboarding banking professionals who are looking for an independent career. Typically, their jobs today with any large bank or financial institution, is a one-sided relationship. The maximum benefit of this relationship accrues to the institution leaving both the banker and their clients short-changed. Wealthy’s bank-like financial services platform, software-led advisory, and, a cloud-based operation empowers these partners to build the career they always dreamt off and achieve a substantial increase in their income.”

Srimanta Patra, a Wealth Manager at Wealthy adds, “I had to step out of my comfort zone to leave ICICI, but, I am so happy I made that move. I am the boss of my own work now and in complete control of my earnings without needing to sacrifice my soul. My favourite part is the limitless earning potential and the technology support I get to onboard and service my clients.”

Arjun Malhotra, Founding Partner of Good Capital adds, “Wealthy's approach in enabling middleman to better curate and serve the eventual customer is something that resonates well with our investment thesis. We have seen this theme play out across different industries and are excited to partner with a highly capable and execution-oriented team in Aditya and Prashant.”

Melissa Frakman, Managing Partner of EMVC adds, “Indian households with a large and emerging middle class deserve the transparency, cost-efficiency, and convenience of the country’s digital finance transformation, while still enjoying personalized, professional service from their advisor. We look forward to working with the Wealthy team as they build a next-generation network of technology-enabled advisors to service a growing need of Indian households.”

From Scaling Transactions to Scaling Trust

Wealthy.in began their foray into the fin-tech market in 2016 by offering tax savings investments in three clicks and then scaled their portfolio of financial products and services over the years. With its seamless and paperless investment solution, Wealthy acquired customers via word of mouth rapidly.. Encouraged by this early success, the team launched new product features and started to increase its user base.

As they scaled further, they found it easy to make consumers conduct small financial transactions via social media posts and digital marketing. However, the users who built meaningful relationships with the platform were those who were referred by their friends, or, heard about Wealthy from someone they trusted at their workplace.

Click moment for them ironically was on the day when the team was celebrating it’s best-month ever. Incidentally, relationship manager of the company’s account with HDFC was in the office and casually asked about the celebration. A casual question led to the realisation that a single relationship manager of HDFC was doing more business than Wealthy’s online-only operation. Wealthy had a superior product but was missing the ‘trust’ element that a HDFC’s relationship manager was able to bridge in his client interactions. That’s when the team sensed that the real opportunity lies in empowering these professionals with their technology-led approach.

“That was a turning point, prompting us to shift our focus from Transactions to Trust. In hindsight, we found that it only makes sense as people have always taking major financial decisions on the advice of other people, be it their friends, relatives, or their banker. This led us to introduce a layer of professionals who could engage end customers with a 360 degree solution“, explained Aditya further.