Qoala Founder and CEO Harshet Lunani
The insurance penetration in Indonesia is lower than in other countries in Southeast Asia despite fairing a higher GDP per capita. This points to the problem of lack of insurance accessibility rather than affordability, according to Qoala Founder and CEO Harshet Lunani.
“Also, although insurance is part of a financial tool, it is far behind other financial services such as payments and credit. We don’t think a single company can solve this hurdle; it requires collective efforts. We believe technology is required to address this to a large extent,” the CEO said in an interview with e27 soon after announcing US$7.5 million in a Series B extension round led by responsAbility Investments AG.
Lunani also said that insurance is largely misunderstood in Southeast Asia. It is currently thought to mitigate day-to-day costs instead of long-term planning to mitigate unforeseen events that put a dent in one’s life and lifestyle. “This is why we have put a lot of emphasis on accessibility and financial literacy to achieve financial inclusion.”
Qoala has attempted to improve accessibility in two ways: first, by investing in platform partnerships, such as Traveloka, Shopee, and redBus. By doing this, more people could familiarise themselves with insurance, given that they are already familiar with such platforms.
Secondly, Qoala created new products because the insurtech startup believes that the current one might not fit the segment from a financial inclusion perspective.
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As for financial literacy, Qoala has invested a lot in content creation to educate the public to be more financially savvy. “Instead of using our owned media solely for promotional purposes, our social media and blogs (Indonesia and Malaysia) are curated transparently, making us a trusted financial information hub,” the Qoala CEO explained. “We will also continue deepening our relationships with insurers to address the emerging challenges for our three markets — Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.”
Launched in 2018 by Lunani and Tommy Martin, Qoala is an omnichannel insurtech platform that allows customers to access insurance comfortably, fairly and transparently. The firm works with insurers to develop products that have high relevancy for customers and make them financially accessible to their customers. It distributes retail insurance products to consumers for cars, bikes, homes, and health through its platform.
Qoala claims to have processed over US$30 million in claims by partnering with insurers across Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
The firm plans to use the Series B extension round to improve the product experience; going deeper into the value chain will be its focus, and doing it sustainably will be the emphasis. “While expansion remains a key area, our priority will be scaling up sustainably with improved economics. If there are opportunities to enter a new geography sustainably, we will consider them,” Lunani said.
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