Murthy-backed Coverfox eyes gen insurance

Mumbai: Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy-promoted Coverfox has filed an application to float a general insurance company to foray into Rs 1 lakh crore industry as Acko General Insurance.

Acko was registered with the registrar of companies on November 3, 2016 with an author Rs 5 crore and paid ised capital of ` up capital of ` . 5 crore. Varun Dua, Ruchi Deepak and Deepak Angrula are the three directors associated with the company , as per the information filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Acko is one of the four applications filed with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to set up general insurance company .There are three other applications Dewan Housing Finance Limited, Fairfax and Edelweiss. While Dewan and Edelweiss have filed for a 100% subsidiary , Fairfax and Coverfox are joint venture agreements with foreign partner.

Coverfox is run by Glitterbug Technologies, a tech company which has received Series A & B funding from global funds such as SAIF partners, Accel and Narayan Murthy's Catamaran Ventures. The online portal has been in existence for over 3 years has raised several rounds of funds to survive in highly competitive market.

“We are not in a position to offer any comment at this moment,“ said Varun Dua cofounder of Coverfox.

The Insurance Act allows foreign promoters to hold up to 49% in local operations. Post the amendment to the Act, many foreign promoters including Axa, AIG, and Ergo have increased their stake in the Indian joint venture.

General insurance industry is relatively less cash inten sive than the life insur ance industry . Compa nies in this sector turn profitable in five-sev en years. In 2015-16, the general insur ance industry under wrote direct premi um of ` . 96,379 crore, registering a growth rate of 13.81%. Govern ment's recent thrust on personal accident insur ance and crop insurance has created newer avenues for insurers. Crop insurance, has become ` . 20,000 crore market. Dewan Hous ing Finance is an other entity that has ap plied for general in surance li cence.