Regional insurtech Igloo and HD, the region's only D2C direct-pay healthcare marketplace, announce partnership to launch insurance products on HDmall

Nov 04, 2021 15:00 JST

Source: Igloo

- Direct-to-consumer health insurance distribution opportunities buoyed by Millenial and Gen Z digital-first consumers who rely less on traditional employer-based health insurance, according to research by AVIA Health and Accenture

BANGKOK, Nov 04, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Regional insurtech company Igloo has teamed up with HD to provide health-related micro-insurance products via the HDmall healthcare marketplace platform in Thailand. Muang Thai Insurance (MTI), one of Thailand's leading non-life insurance companies, will be underwriting the health insurance products such as cancer and mobile syndrome insurance, among others.

HD is a D2C direct-pay healthcare marketplace in emerging Southeast Asia. HD leverages ecommerce technology to connect direct-pay patients to hospitals and healthcare SMEs, with the mission to bring affordable healthcare to the '99%'. The healthtech startup has grown its users to 6 million and recently sold over 10,000 Moderna vaccines within 12 hours via the HDmall platform.

"Igloo's tech capabilities and insurance expertise will join our portfolio of ecommerce technologies that empower direct-pay healthcare including credit card installment payments and buy-now-pay-later solutions that have already enabled people to pay for high-ticket healthcare procedures such as In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), Cesarean Delivery (C-Section), and Lasik; dental-related products such as Clear Aligners and Invisalign; as well as medical aesthetics-related procedures" said Sheji Ho, CEO and Co-Founder of HD.

"We are happy to partner with HD, our first digital health partner on top of industries such as ecommerce, travel, telecommunications, logistics to delivery space. Together, we aim to create an insurance customer journey that meets the needs of today's digital consumers, especially in Southeast Asia and in Thailand where technology has become more and more a part of our daily lives. HD's healthcare marketplace and unique access to Millennial and Gen Z patients is the perfect fit for us to implement our technology of digital insurance that is relevant in today's world. Igloo will continue to look at expanding its partnership in the digital health space across the SEA region," said Raunak Mehta, Chief Commercial Officer, Igloo.

Across emerging Southeast Asia, 40% of healthcare expenditure is paid out of pocket (compared to 10% in the US). With the rise of the 'Creator Economy' and popularity of fractional trading apps like Robinhood - both of which were accelerated through the Covid pandemic - an increasing number of Millennial and Gen Z consumers are looking for more control over their healthcare consumption and expenditure. Unlike their parents' generation, these digital-first consumers are less and less likely to be tied to traditional employer-based health insurance. This is based on recent findings by AVIA Health, a healthcare digital transformation consultancy, as well as Accenture's Digital Health Consumer Survey.

"We see Igloo's innovative micro health insurance technologies as a perfect complement to our focus on unlocking the $24 billion direct-pay healthcare opportunity in emerging Southeast Asia. With only 0.06% health insurance penetration (gross written premiums out of GDP), we need to take an out-of-the-box approach to empower patients in Thailand to finance healthcare," added Sheji.

Igloo's technologies will be integrated into HD and applied to both self-checkout and conversational commerce on the HDmall direct-pay healthcare marketplace platform to ensure the best possible user experience.

"We're excited about partnering with both Igloo and HD, the latter marking our first collaboration with a healthtech startup. This strategic initiative will enable Muang Thai Insurance to distribute our micro-insurance products direct-to-consumer at scale and expand to a vast majority of customers digitally while leveraging Igloo's machine learning and HD's healthcare targeting and segmentation," said Mrs. Nualphan Lamsam, President and Chief Executive Officer of Muang Thai Insurance PCL.

Partnership image is available for download here.
https://preciouscomms.box.com/s/jp4alg2s52kji7bnw7okaq62368jsugr

About Igloo

Igloo, previously known as "Axinan", is the first full-stack insurtech firm to emerge from Singapore. It has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and tech centres are located in China. With a mission of making insurance accessible for all, the firm leverages big data, real-time risk assessment, and end-to-end automated claims management to create B2B2C insurance solutions for platform companies and insurance companies. Igloo's insurance solutions enable companies to eliminate their exposure to operational risk, create new revenue streams, and optimize and enhance existing products and services. In April 2020, Igloo successfully closed its Series A+ funding round worth US$8.2 million, bringing its total funding to US$16 million from global investors.

Igloo is led by a core team that comprises top talent from the technology and insurance industries hailing from global corporations including Facebook, Grab, Flipkart, Garena, Manulife, Shopee, Yahoo! and Zalora. For more information, please visit https://www.iglooinsure.com

About HD

HD is a D2C direct-pay healthcare marketplace in emerging Southeast Asia. HD leverages ecommerce technology to connect direct-pay patients to hospitals and healthcare SMEs, with the mission to bring affordable healthcare to the '99%'. Direct-pay health shoppers on the HD marketplace access a range of affordable services including consumer healthcare, online pharmacy / telepharmacy, and telehealth, while healthcare providers benefit from HD's suite of healthcare marketing solutions. With an average of 40% of healthcare expenditure being paid out of pocket in our region, we believe our 'JD Health for SEA' + 'Shopify for Healthcare' approach is key to fixing healthcare for a $24 billion direct-pay market. HD is currently available to users in both Thailand and Indonesia, with Vietnam launching in 2022.

About Muang Thai Insurance (MTI)

Founded in 1932 and currently one of Thailand's top 5 leading non-life insurance companies under the leadership of Mrs. Nualphan Lamsam, President and Chief Executive Officer. Muang Thai Insurance PCL (MTI) has been expanding businesses continuously through various progressions including insurance product development and social development matching with the current global social situation. MTI's main products include fire insurance, marine insurance, motor insurance, and miscellaneous insurance. The company has launched many digital platforms to reach out and provide new services to satisfy all needs of all customers.

Media Contact for Igloo
PRecious Communications
igloo@preciouscomms.com

Source: Igloo
Sectors: Cards & Payments, Retail & eCommerce, Daily Finance, Healthcare & Pharm, Banking & Insurance, FinTech