In a significant development for the fintech landscape, Finhaat, a financial product delivery platform, has successfully raised $3 million in a seed funding round. The funding was led by impact venture fund Omnivore, with participation from Kettleborough VC.
Founded by Sandeep Katiyar, Navneet Shrivastava, and Vinod Singh, Finhaat focuses on delivering financial products to the emerging middle-class and lower-income segments, particularly in rural, tier III, and IV cities. The startup plans to utilize the fresh capital to enhance its technological models, introduce innovative products, expand its partner base, and hire resources for new verticals.
Since commencing operations in 2022, Finhaat has established itself as a business-to-business (B2B) insurance distribution platform catering to institutions serving the underserved. This includes non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions (MFIs), business correspondents (BC) networks, Nidhi companies, cooperatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and farmer producer organizations (FPOs).
Cofounder Vinod Singh emphasized, “Our operations already cover over 65% of pin codes in India. We are determined to transform the financial services space for the underserved.”
Omnivore’s managing partner Jinesh Shah highlighted the pressing need for financial inclusion in rural India, where only 11.5% of households have net savings, and less than 10% have life insurance. He noted, “Tailored products to mitigate uncertainties and boost financial stability and growth are few and far between for low-income segments, especially farmers facing myriad risks.”
The funding comes at a time when the insurance sector in India is experiencing a transformative shift, moving away from traditional legacy systems and cumbersome processes. Notably, insurtech startup Onsurity recently secured $24 million in its Series B funding round to collaborate with insurance partners on technology solutions for seamless and transparent transactions.
Furthermore, the rising interest in insurtech is evident as fintech unicorn InCred considers entering the segment, with plans to apply for a corporate insurance agency license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
According to State Of Indian Fintech Report, Q3 2023 InFocus, the insurtech market size surpassed $87 billion in 2022 and is projected to exceed $307 billion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17%.
