“The company is in discussions with bankers, and the talks are still preliminary. Formal pitches are expected to happen next month (January) with appointments in the subsequent weeks,” one of the two people said on the condition of anonymity.
“The issue is likely to be a mix of primary capital fundraise and secondary transactions through which some of the earlier investors are expected to offload some stake,” the second person said, also on the condition of anonymity, adding the insurer is targeting a listing in 2026-27.
Acko did not respond to Mint’s requests for a comment.
Booming IPO market
If Acko’s plans materialize, it will join an expanding list of startups going public in India. The country’s IPO market has seen companies, including new-age platforms such as Meesho, Pine Labs, Groww, Physicswallah, Ather Energy, Bluestone, Urban Company and Lenskart, raise a record $21 billion in 2025 so far, Mint reported earlier. The public markets have also seen other large high-quality issuances such as LG Electronics, Tata Capital, and HDB Financial Services.
The line-up remains strong, with more than 30 companies, including Milky Mist Dairy Food, Curefoods India, Shiprocket, Shadowfax Technologies, and Gaja Capital, having secured regulatory approval, setting the stage for a robust listing calendar in 2027.
Founded by Varun Dua and Ruchi Deepak, Acko has raised more than $450 million so far and counts prominent investors, including US tech giant Amazon.com Inc., venture capital firms Accel, Elevation Capital, Munich Re Ventures, Catamaran Ventures, RPS Ventures, Intact Ventures, private equity firm SAIF Partners, and M.S. Dhoni (through his family office), Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, and former CaratLane chief executive Mithun Sacheti.
Over the past nine years, the Bengaluru-based unicorn has served more than 78 million customers and issued over a billion insurance policies.
New-age insurer
The company, which began with auto insurance in 2016, is also working on integrating the entire process of buying health insurance, from picking a lab for medical testing to interacting with a hospital for claims.
It acquired Better Capital-backed chronic-care startup OneCare in 2024 to double down on health insurance offerings, expanding partnerships with hospitals and clinics to tap into the growing opportunity in the space.
Acko already claims to have one of the largest market shares in embedded insurance products like mobility and gadget insurance, and is in partnership with more than 50 players, including redBus, Zomato, HDB Financial Services, and Urban Company.
Within two years of its launch, Acko’s group health insurance product has also onboarded over 200 companies, including Swiggy, Razorpay, and CRED.
The integration of its various insurance services in auto and healthcare is expected to result in customers engaging with the platform more regularly, which is typically an annual activity.
In 2024-25, Acko narrowed its consolidated net loss to ₹424 crore from ₹667 crore a year ago. Its operating revenue rose to ₹2,836 crore from ₹2,106 crore in 2023-24.
Acko competes with Tata AIG and Bajaj Allianz as well as digital-first insurtech companies such as Go Digit Insurance, InsuranceDekho, CarDekho and Spinny, and PolicyBazaar.
India’s insurance sector is projected to reach $222 billion by 2025-26, with the domestic market expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% over the last two decades, according to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation, a government-backed trust promoting the ‘Made in India’ brand globally.
