CASE STUDY: INSURANCEDEKHO: ONE DISTRICT AT A TIME

Ankit Agrawal, the co-founder and CEO of Insurance Dekho, sat in a district-level training center in Madhya Pradesh, noticing a group of freshly appointed Point-of-Sale (POS) insurance agents. The center looked more like a government classroom than the headquarters of a speedily rising fin tech startup: plastic chairs arranged in rows, a grey blackboard used to explain how premiums were calculated, and hand-drawn posters related to simple insurance concepts such as “What is a deductible?”. The room lacked the aesthetics of a modern tech company—no LED screens, no branding-laden signboards, no lustrous corporate décor. But for Ankit, this was the symbolic center of Insurance Dekho’s exclusive growth strategy. Founded in 2017 as the insurance arm of Car Dekho Group — India's biggest digital automotive solutions provider — Insurance Dekho was incubated with a clear mission: to insure every Indian household and business, particularly those in smaller cities and towns where traditional insurers had limited coverage due to high cost-to-serve. The founders, Ankit Agrawal (CEO) and Ish Babbar, recognised that digitising the agent distribution model — rather than replacing agents — would be the most effective strategy for deepening insurance penetration in India (www.eurazeo.com, 2023).The firm operates under a regulatory framework sanctioned by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), which recognises it as an authorised direct insurance intermediary. A noteworthy regulatory advancement came in July 2024, when IRDAI extended a composite insurance broking licence to the company, creating a strategic gateway for Insurance Dekho to diversify into the reinsurance segment.The company had grown remarkably—reaching nearly all pin codes in India and on boarding lakhs of local agents—but the financials were beginning to reflect the cost of this strategy. In FY25, Insurance Dekho posted a net loss of ₹47.5 crore despite strong revenue growth, raising concerns among investors about the unit economics of such aggressive expansion (https://inc42.com/buzz/insurancedekho-slips-into-red-posts-inr-47-5-cr-loss-in-fy25/).Insurance Dekho has merged with RenewBuy through a share-swap transaction. The combined company is expected to be valued at around Rs.7,400 crore and become one of India's largest insurance distribution platforms. The merger is subject to regulatory approvals, and Ankit Agrawal is expected to lead the merged entity as CEO (www.economictimes.com, 2026).Now, as he studied the latest financial data on his laptop, Ankit suspected whether the company had reached a turning point? Should they maintain the costly, boots-on-the-ground expansion model? Or adopt more digital, self-service marketing strategy—something investors may favour?This strategic dilemma formed the basis of the case.