Chinese investment firms Matrix Partners China and, Tianshili Capital have led a RMB100 million (US$14 million) series B round in a Shenzhen-based online insurance platform.
According to Xiaoyusan, it plans to use the proceeds from this funding round to expand its team, improve its research and development activities, and upgrade its product line-up. The start-up is looking to conduct additional research in the insurance technology, artificial intelligence recognition, and big data fields in order to boost its underwriting capabilities.
E-commerce, particularly online insurance, is on the rise in China. In 2016, a total of 117 insurance companies have provided online insurance services, resulting in RMB234 billion (US$34 billion) worth of insurance underwritten.
As such, investments from venture capitalists have begun flowing in to take advantage of the sector’s growth. In 2016, Huize Insurance, another online insurance start-up, raised RMB200 million (US$31 million) in funding from several domestic investors. Hillhouse Capital Group, a Chinese alternative investment fund, partnered with
Allianz and Baidu to start an online insurer in 2015.
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