Where 68% of all US citizens are covered with private individual insurance, less than 1% of Indians are covered under the same according to IBEF. 65% of all healthcare costs are met by the individual themselves. According to a survey, this out-of-pocket health spending has pushed 55 million people under the poverty line in 2017. In India, the insurance is mainly employer-driven as there is no health insurance or life insurance to be gained as individuals. Individual insurance mainly covers accidents and emergencies.

Mayank Banerjee and Matilde Giglio were already running a startup when they saw the damage this problem was doing. Basic healthcare routines like consultations, tests and scans were never covered under insurance. The duo along with Alessandro Davide Ialongo launched Even in 2021. The startup became operational in February and launched in June. 

They provide healthcare insurance membership that covered Unlimited consultations and diagnostics, Cashless service at all partner hospitals and Covid-19 care. This is their Even Lite offer which, at the date of publishing this article, is Rs 525 per month. With Even Plus one had access to all the mentioned benefits plus emergency care across India and Rs 50 lakh of hospital cover annually per member. Even Plus is offered at Rs 1050 per month.

The startup currently serves in Bengaluru with 11 hospitals and 10 clinics. Aster, Fortis and Narayan Health are some of its partners. Last year, Even received $5 million as seed funds in a round led by Khosla Ventures. Other participants of the round were Founders Fund (led by Peter Thiel), Lachy Groom, Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks, Kunal Shah of CRED, Nithin Kamath of Zerodha and Tom Stafford of DST Global.

Insurance is a booming sector of India. An S&P Global Market Intelligence Data report claims that India is the second-largest #insurance technology market in Asia-Pacific. This alone receives 35% of the $3.66 billion insurtech-focused venture investments. Furthermore, the  Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has advised insurers to include telemedicine. By including this, India can save an estimated $10 billion by 2025.

Will startups like Even help even out the insurance field of India?