Final week, B2B auto insurtech Roadzen secured a Nasdaq itemizing with a $683 million fairness worth, which the corporate’s CEO, Rohan Malhotra, mentioned is the following step in its evolution.

“Nasdaq was an ideal house for an organization like ours,” he mentioned.

“The final three to 4 years have simply been about scaling, resulting in this itemizing, which is a part of our 4 core methods of progress and innovation.”

These 4 areas of alternative embody:

1. Telematics-led security units.
2. Discovering options for usage-based, asset-based and driver score-based underwriting strategies.
3. Increasing distribution channels as automotive producers gear as much as launch their very own insurance coverage and white-label merchandise.
4. Concentrate on fixing 80% of claims in beneath two minutes.

In an interview with Insurance coverage Enterprise, Malhotra spoke about how being publicly traded will permit Roadzen to attain its objectives, the corporate’s M&A urge for food and the way it plans on avoiding the potential pitfalls of going public.

Taking up a brand new look

Insurance coverage Enterprise initially reported in February that Roadzen was present process the method to change into publicly listed, which was lastly accomplished final week.

For Malhotra, having that Nasdaq affiliation lends his firm an elevated stage of legitimacy within the eyes of potential companions throughout the insurance coverage and auto business.

“At present we work with 90 enterprise clients internationally. These embody insurers, reminiscent of AXA, Allianz, California Casualty and others, alongside automotive producers like Mercedes, Audi and Volvo,” he mentioned.

Malhotra mentioned he hopes that when corporations see that Roadzen has the governance of one of the stringent capital markets on this planet, it is going to make them really feel extra comfy collaborating with the corporate.

“We are able to work with them throughout a number of international locations, and we’ve seen a significant acceleration in our gross sales,” he mentioned.

Elsewhere, the corporate is seeking to recruit extra expertise to construct out its capabilities and is actively on the hunt for professionals within the AI, mobility and insurance coverage industries.

Stepping up M&A exercise

One other space of enlargement Roadzen is seeking to construct on with its Nasdaq itemizing is ramping up M&A exercise.

“The general public markets are a fantastic foreign money for M&A,” Malhotra mentioned.

He acknowledged that there are two segments of companies Roadzen is excited about buying, the primary being corporations which might be entrenched in distribution. “There are millions of brokers and businesses on the market, which make up 40% of the $800 billion in auto insurance coverage gross sales,” Malhotra mentioned.

“We need to purchase a number of gamers on this area and truly use our expertise to affect underwriting and assist make distribution extra seamless.”

Moreover, Roadzen is seeking to purchase corporations which might be making technological inroads into linked automobiles, drivers’ security, automotive components knowledge and the like.

“Mainly, knowledge AI expertise companies that may create new insurance coverage experiences,” Malhotra mentioned.

Dodging post-IPO blues

Inventory efficiency for some insurtechs which have gone public lately has not at all times lived as much as investor expectations, however Malhotra mentioned he didn’t see this as being a problem for Roadzen.

“A lot of the gamers who went into the capital markets are direct-to-customer insurers and that may be a very troublesome business,” Malhotra famous.

There will be many hurdles for smaller corporations that will not have the promoting budgets to achieve customers on a big scale like the larger rivals.

“When you’re promoting a commoditized product, what you’re left with is the flexibility solely to accumulate clients by paying extra for them,” he mentioned.

“A few of these corporations will be spending $30 million 1 / 4 strictly on buyer acquisition and different related prices, and that doesn’t think about claims funds.”

Roadzen is a B2B firm that doesn’t promote a commoditized product, as a substitute it really works internally with different corporations to assist increase its processes.

“You’ll select me due to the expertise, not as a result of I’m going to pay you extra for buyer acquisition, and that’s the mannequin that we selected to concentrate on,” Malhotra  mentioned.