MUMBAI: InsuranceDekho co-founders Ankit Agrawal and Ish Babbar have expressed their intent to step down from the IPO-bound company over strategic differences with some members of the board, people familiar with the matter said.
“There have been some mediations happening to retain the founders in some capacity over the last month. The thought process is that the business needs professional management where the founders must move to the promoter role eventually,” one of the people said.
The second person added that the focus is now on the pre-initial public offering round of about ₹100-150 crore.
“This round will happen at the same valuation as the last round and high net worth individuals, ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices are being approached,” the person added.
The company is now expected to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with the market regulator in the coming weeks to raise about ₹2,500 crore to ₹3,000 crore through a mix of a primary capital raise and secondary share sales by existing investors.
Last year, the company raised $70 million in the latest funding round, which was co-led by private equity fund Beams Fintech Fund, Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and insurer BNP Paribas Cardif via its insurtech fund managed by European investment major Eurazeo.
The development assumes importance as InsuranceDekho just completed one of the largest mergers in the segment with RenewBuy and is headed for a public listing over the next year.
A company spokesperson said these claims are entirely baseless.
“The co-founders remain actively involved with InsuranceDekho and continue to lead the company’s strategy and growth alongside the broader leadership team. There has been no change in their roles or their commitment to the company,” the spokesperson said.
Founded in 2017 by Agrawal and Babbar, InsuranceDekho earns about 82% of its premium from tier-II cities and beyond. It claims to be present in about 1,500 towns and competes with Acko, Turtlemint and PolicyBazaar.
InsuranceDekho is a subsidiary of automobile portal CarDekho, which pivoted from selling used vehicles to vehicle financing. Jaipur-based CarDekho, which became a unicorn in 2021 with a valuation exceeding $1 billion, competes with CarTrade, Spinny and Cars24. In December 2023, it acquired shared mobility startup Revv.
RenewBuy consolidation
On 1 September, InsuranceDekho announced the consolidation of its businesses with RenewBuy to create a unified, pan-India insurance distribution ecosystem. The combined entity was India's largest AI-enabled insurance distribution platform, in terms of point of sales person-driven insurance premium generated, in FY26, the companies said.
Together, the two platforms have facilitated the issuance of over 20 million insurance policies since inception as of 31 March 2026, according to the statement. The combined platform pairs InsuranceDekho's strength across northern and western India with RenewBuy's presence in the south, creating pan-India breadth and depth.
With a premium book exceeding ₹6,600 crore, a network of over 600,000 digital partners, and reach across 98.57% of India's pin codes as of 31 March, the combined entity seeks to ensure partners in smaller towns have the same access to products, tools and support as those in metros.
InsuranceDekho’s portfolio spans motor, health, life, travel, and corporate insurance, offering 750+ insurance products from 52 insurers.
Since inception, the company has raised over $350 million and counts Beams Fintech Fund, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Avataar Ventures, LeapFrog Investments, TVS Capital Funds and Investcorp among its investors.
Girnar Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd, which operates InsuranceDekho, reported an operating income of ₹1,290 crore in FY25 from ₹743.6 crore a year earlier. It posted a loss of ₹47.5 crore as compared to a net profit of ₹85.7 crore in FY24, according to documents sourced by Tofler from the ministry of corporate affairs.