Singapore-based insurtech Igloo, formerly known as Axinan, has completed a Series A+ funding round, bringing their total capital to US$16 million.

The extended Series A+ round was led by InVent, the venture capital arm of Thailand’s Intouch Holdings. Additional investors on the round include Cathay Innovation, Singtel Innov7 and Partech Partners.

Igloo’s existing investors also joined – including Shanghai’s Linear Capital and Openspace Ventures, which is focused on South-East Asia investments.

The fresh funds will allow Igloo to continue their expansion into Asean. The insurtech firm is focused first on growth in Vietnam, while also prioritising greater inroads into the Philippines and Thailand. This will mean a doubling in size of Igloo’s business development and engineering teams.

Wei Zhu (pictured), founder and chief executive of Igloo, commented: “We see that digital insurance is on the rise in South-East Asia. Igloo can help fill the gaps and address consumer needs.”

Zhu added on digitisation and Covid-19: “With the [coronavirus] impacting every facet of business and personal life, digitisation can help the world adjust to the new normal. This is especially apparent in insurance, where we can tap on digital channels for distribution and also for creating awareness.”

Igloo’s current portfolio of partners include major market players FWD, Sompo and Allianz; and e-commerce firms such as Lazada and Shopee. According to the insurtech, they have served 15 million users and processed over 50 million transactions in the last year.

Zhu, a former chief technology officer for ride-hailing startup Grab, started the insurtech firm in 2016. They are already active in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

Across Asia, India’s digital insurance market has seen a flurry of activity in recent months. Hong Kong’s Pacific Century Group recently appointed Singapore-based FWD executive Rob Schimek to lead bolttech, a digital transformation insurtech expanding across the region.

And just in March, AMTD Group’s digital arm announced they will take a controlling stake in Singapore insurtech PolicyPal. Though deal terms remain undisclosed, it is estimated that PolicyPal received around US$20 million in funding and has a US$3 billion sum assured coverage on their platform through 30 global insurers.

According to a joint report by Google, Temasek and Bain on South-East Asia’s digital economy, the region’s digital insurance market could grow to US$8 billion by 2025 from its current US$2 billion valuation.