Thailand's Sunday raises US$10mil in Series A funding

• Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are the next stops for the Insurtech startup
• Differentiates itself based on its risk-prediction model driven by AI, machine learning

REDEFINING insurance is no easy task, but the investors behind Thailand-based Sunday, an under-the-radar startup, believe that the insurtech has the right model and is set for massive growth in Southeast Asia.

This firm has successfully raised US$10 million (RM40.76) in its Series A funding round led by VC firm, Vertex Ventures SEA and India.

Beyond that, an insurance group also owns a stake in the business and has contributed the use of its general insurance license to the insurtech which transforms the startup into a full-blown insurance company.

Sunday is a multi-line insurtech with fully-integrated sales and services platforms designed to reinvent the entire insurance value chain where the nature of risks is rapidly shifting as we progress towards a digital economy.

Incumbent insurers currently act only as risk aggregators with limited understanding of capabilities to meet customers’ needs which are rapidly evolving.

With data and technology, Sunday aims to reboot insurance to meet these demands, so that insurance is always affordable and available anytime anywhere.

Sunday differentiates itself based on its risk-prediction model driven by AI and machine learning, where it currently uses more variables than any insurer in Southeast Asia for feature engineering and more accurate risk-pricing in real time.

Multiple dimensions of an individual risk profile are also aggregated to offer more personalised and affordable coverages for every customer segment.

The startup has since launched over a hundred variations of products and platforms to cover niche risks such as extended warranty and flight delay to more complex coverages such as auto and health insurance, for its rapidly growing customers.

Products and claims services designed are offered via its partnership ecosystems comprising leading players from the auto, telecommunications, retail and travel industries.

In parallel, Sunday also grows its business organically with its personalised employee health benefits and real-time claims management solutions used to penetrate the local SME market comprising three million SMEs with over 10 million workforce, generating over 36% of Thailand’s GDP.

“Sunday is on a mission to serve customers very differently as an insurtech and in Southeast Asia, home to over 330 million internet users representing third largest region globally with Thai consumers spending more than four hours a day on mobile internet. The insurance market is fragmented with huge gaps in current offerings coupled with many pain points throughout the entire customer journey.

“In addition, the digital economy continues to change the way customers shop on-demand. At Sunday, we believe the only way to solve this is to own and simplify the entire value chain using data and technology. We want to create a platform where people are able to find any insurance for themselves and their businesses at anytime and anywhere. There is more than one way to reach customers now and in the future which is why we have built capabilities to also integrate our solutions into various businesses and ecosystems,” said Cindy Kua, co-founder and CEO.

"Vertex Ventures SEA and India is pleased to partner with Sunday on their digital insurance journey. This is a long-awaited transformation that the insurance industry must undertake given the confluence of technology and data. If e-commerce can provide dynamic pricing, then a digital insurer like Sunday can provide personalised premium pricing depending on insights into consumers’ behavior and needs.

“As part of the insurance journey revolves around claims experience, Sunday’s integrated technology platform will enable a more seamless claims experience, where pay-out will be carried out efficiently,” said Chua Kee Lock, managing partner at Vertex Ventures SEA and India.

Looking ahead, Kua expects the insurtech to expand its operations to other markets in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and aims to raise significant funding round for its expansion towards end of this year for this.