Southeast Asia’s Insuretech Startup Fuse Raises $25 Million In A Series B Extension Round

Fuse, based in Indonesia, has raised $25 million in a Series B extension round bringing the total number of rounds of Series B held to three and all within the last six months. The funding round was led by an undisclosed global fintech fund and saw the participation of existing investors East Ventures, GGV Capital, eWTP and Emtek.

The startup plans to use the recently acquired funds to ignite its expansion plans. It plans to enter more countries and is placing its primary focus on Thailand and Vietnam.

Fuse is leveraging the opportunities that lie in Asia’s untapped insurtech platform. For example, Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing digitally savvy middle class is expected to grow to 350 million consumers with $300 billion in disposable income making it a region with an attractive market for insurtech companies such as Fuse. With more than 70 percent of Southeast Asia’s population having access to the internet, Fuse wants to maximize the opportunities that are yet to be tapped in the area. Fuse’s CEO Andy Yeung explained that “we deeply believe that digital insurance transformation can help more people get protection with insurance, and hopefully, the insurance penetration rate can increase substantially in the coming years in Indonesia as well as Southeast Asia”.

Fuse came into the scene in 2017. The startup connects insurance companies with multiple distribution channels and partners to end-users who need these services. Fuse uses mobile applications to offer an agent-focused service, B2A (Business to Agent/ Broker). Its Fuse Pro app allows agents and broker partners to maximize choices for their customers. The startup also has B2C and B2B2C (micro insurance and financial institute), which provides digital small-ticket size insurance products, distributing insurance products cost-effectively to end customers by partnerships with e-commerce channels.

The startup claims to have over 60,000 marketers and/or agent partners using its mobile platform. It also says over 40 insurance companies use its platform to offer insurance products to their partners or customers. The company has exceeded $70 million in gross written premium (GWP) for the first three quarters of 2021 and said it has the largest GWP in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Currently, it employs over 460 employees and has branch offices in Indonesia, Vietnam, and China.  

“We are very glad to be recognized by a leading global fintech fund which had looked into most insurtech players in Southeast Asia and decided to invest in Fuse. We are very excited to get access and insights from other fintech and insurtech portfolio companies in this global network. The strong interest of global investors reconfirms our current ecosystem approach – using Fuse’s technology platform to make insurance more accessible for Southeast Asia’s underpenetrated population,” Yeong said about the Series B extension round.