Fresh from a successful US$19M Series B funding, regional insurtech company Igloo is building on its success in the Philippines with critical partnerships across different industries.
With a tech-savvy population and a low insurance penetration rate, the Philippines market offers solid potential for Igloo. Data from the Insurance Commission (IC) showed only three percent of the country’s adult population are covered with insurance protection.
Meanwhile, the domestic insurance industry has seen robust growth, with total gross written premiums rising 64.3 percent from Php 169.6 billion in the third quarter of 2016 to Php 278.7 billion in the same period in 2021.
Igloo has cemented partnerships with Etiqa, Malayan Insurance, PGA Sompo Insurance Corporation, Mercantile Insurance, and over 12 commercial partners across the finance, logistics, lifestyle, and travel sectors.
In the last year, Igloo Philippines has facilitated over 60 million protection plans and increased gross written premiums by 20 times. Its most recent partnership with Etiqa and Shopee makes affordable Cracked Screen Protection and Electronics Protection Plans accessible to over 73 million monthly visitors on the Shopee Philippines platform.
The insurtech company has also cemented its successful partnership with e-wallet provider GCash and now offers a suite of microinsurance protection plans – Online Shopping Protection, Gadget Insurance, and Pet Insurance – to its 60 million users.
Insurance for all
Igloo’s growth in the Philippines also sees it delivering protection plans to a wider reach of the population, some of which include traditionally underserved segments like gig economy workers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
In January, Igloo extended its partnership with food delivery platform FoodPanda to the Philippines, helping FoodPanda riders in the country minimize risks and make accidental losses more manageable while on the road.
More recently, its partnership with UBX’s SeekCap sees the fast-growing online lending marketplace for MSMEs provide access to over 50,000 MSMEs with affordable fire coverage and wider personal accident protection for family members.
With its recent funding announcement, Igloo is primed to build on the strong momentum it has enjoyed in the Philippines. The insurtech company’s insurance solutions have already benefited over 15 million users in Southeast Asia. Their strong business potential lies in Southeast Asia’s growing digital economy, which is expected to hit US$300 billion in 2025. The increasing digital insurance penetration opens up new opportunities for digital players and insurance companies which are worth over US$10 billion in the region.
