Acko, Credit Access Life Insurance receive IRDAI nod to start life insurance businesses

Insurtech firm Acko Life Insurance and Credit Access Life Insurance have been granted certificates of registration from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. As per IRDAI, both companies have received licences to operate life insurance businesses in India. According to IRDAI, the last company to have received a licence for life insurance was Edelweiss in 2011.

In a press statement, Irdai said a total of three new insurers were added in the financial year 2022-23.

"In the 121st meeting of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India held on 25th March 2023 (sic), two new entities namely Acko Life Insurance Ltd. and Credit Access Life Insurance Ltd. were granted a certificate of registration to commence life insurance business,” the regulator said.  

With the entry of these two firms, the Indian insurance sector will have a total number of 25 life insurance companies.

The regulator said that more companies are waiting for the regulatory nod. “Another 20 applications are in pipeline at various stages of registration in life, general and reinsurance segments”, the regulator said.

Acko already operates a general insurance company named Acko General Insurance. It is backed by companies like General Atlantic and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).  

Acko, which became a unicorn in October 2021, has been trying to raise new capital for at least eight months. It is currently in talks to raise a fresh funding round of $150 million led by its existing investors valuing it at $1.5 billion, as per new reports.

The other existing backers for Acko are Amazon, Accel, Elevation Capital, Ascent Capital, Intact Ventures, Munich Re Ventures and Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal, among others.

Acko provides insurance covers in auto, health and travel segments. It has joined hands with the likes of cab-aggregator Ola and Amazon for bite-sized insurance covers available on their respective apps.

Insurtech firms such as Acko, Digit, and Plum have raised large sums of funds following the Covid-19 pandemic as they witnessed strong demand from customers due to disruptions around the pandemic, following which customers bought bite-sized insurance covers.

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