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Sebastien Gaudin, chief executive of Shanghai-based insurtech company The CareVoice. Photo: Handout

Shanghai insurtech start-up The CareVoice eyes Asia expansion after securing US$10 million funding

  • Company’s clients include Ping An Insurance, Zhong An Online P&C Insurance, as well as Axa and Generali
  • Aim to be in a total of five markets in the next 18 months, CEO says
Insurance

Shanghai-based insurance technology start-up The CareVoice has raised about US$10 million in a funding round led by Chinese investment management company Lun Partners Group, it said on Thursday.

The company, which launched in Hong Kong last September and is present in mainland China, provides software to 15 insurance companies, including Ping An Insurance, China’s second-largest insurer, Zhong An Online P&C Insurance, the country’s first internet-only insurer, The People’s Insurance Company of China, as well as French and Italian insurers Axa and Generali.

“This launch of Series A fundraising is a very good step for us to become a leading health insurtech in Asia. Of course now we need to fulfil that, to keep expanding the number of [partnered] insurance companies in mainland China, Hong Kong and other markets,” Sebastien Gaudin, The CareVoice’s chief executive and co-founder, said in an interview.

Brazilian private-equity firm DNA Capital and a growth-stage financial technology fund launched less than a year ago will join Lun Partners in this funding round, while a fourth investor is likely to come on board at the end of September. This will increase the amount raised in this funding round.

The CareVoice’s existing shareholders include US-based SOSV, one of the world’s largest seed investors with US$300 million in assets under management, as well as Artesian Capital, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm operating in Australia and China.

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The company currently has more than US$3 million in contracts, with clients paying US$200,000 to US$800,000 per year. The CareVoice will use the new funding to triple its staff numbers from the current 25, which in part will help with expansion in Southeast Asia, Gaudin said.

The company aims to be in a total of five markets in the next 18 months, he added. “We have had demand from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. A bit from Singapore, and a bit related to Japan [as well],” Gaudin said.

Malaysia looks likely to be where The CareVoice expands next, following the “solid prospect” of a partnership with an insurer whose identity Gaudin said the company could not reveal yet.

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Benefiting from rising incomes and expanding populations, the Asia-Pacific insurance market grew 2.8 per cent from 2012-17, compared with 0.6 per cent in the rest of the world, according to Zurich-based reinsurance company Swiss Re.

The CareVoice mobile app digitalises health care and insurance, covering everything from managing claims, to checking doctor ratings, recommending hospitals and booking appointments.

An enlarged team will further develop its newest product, which will bring on board third-party companies such as Xiaomi-backed fitness tracker Huami, for services in areas such as gene testing, mindfulness and physical activity tracking.

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The company has also launched the StartupCare product for entrepreneurs along with Ping An Health in mainland China. A subscription costs between 200 yuan (US$28) and 600 yuan a month. It is available on the The CareVoice mobile app as well as on WeChat.

“Obviously being in good health, physically and in mindset, helps you face the pressures of growing a start-up. Having the access to more strategic care frees you up. You need people to be supported, fast-tracked to seeing a doctor,” Gaudin said.

The company has developed another product, MaternityCare, with Zhong An, which focuses on safer pregnancies, complication risks, as well as how to address symptoms and access medical providers.

“We stand on the side of consumers, helping insurance companies be more consumer centric,” Gaudin added. “I think that is really where we are in our own space.”

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