WIMWIsure, AI-enabled insurance service platform for on-demand inspection of insurable assets, on Friday said the company conducted over 2 lakh virtual inspections of passenger and commercial vehicles in the financial year ended March 2021 and also turned profitable during the year. The Indian motor insurance marketplace has noted a clear shift towards remote ‘Do-It-Yourself’ checks and inspection-as-a-service because of COVID-19 which has necessitated moving away from physical vehicle inspections, WIMWIsure said in a release.
“During the lockdown, Insurtech WIMWIsure has conducted more than 2 lakh virtual inspections for passenger and commercial vehicles through its on-demand artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled video inspection platform in the financial year 2020-21,” it said.
The nearly four-year-old company said it saw the bulk of its over 3.5 lakh inspections till date during the lockdown, witnessing strong demand from tier-II and III cities for mid-range SUVs, sedans and hatchbacks.
The luxury car segment, which is typically chauffeur-driven, also witnessed a surging demand for the self-service technology, indicating remote video inspections becoming popular across all categories of vehicle owners, it said.
In the commercial segment, the demand was seen from insurance providers to support frontline COVID-19 workers for essentials delivery trucks in particular, it added.
The technology stack automates inspection of insurable assets in real-time using photos and videos submitted by the policy buyers. Over 2.5 million photos and videos have been uploaded on the platform for motor inspection in 2020-21.
WIMWIsure founder and CEO Ravinder Kumar said, “Our operations have turned profitable in the last financial year with a huge demand for our mobile and AI services coming from vehicle owners, insurance brokers and general insurers during the lockdown.”
He added that the pandemic has accelerated the shift from everything manual, laborious, time consuming to real-time, DIY and quick methods, especially in the insurance industry which is otherwise a process and paper-intensive sector.
Using machine learning (ML) algorithms and computer vision solutions, WIMWIsure reduces cost associated with administration, distribution or those related to policy issuance and claims by up to 70 per cent for the insurer, he said.
Kumar also said the company is already witnessing rising demand for its self-inspections services, as COVID-19 continues to affect movement of people even in 2021.
“As we continue to build on our video inspection services, we are also geared to launch automated claim servicing and management tools in India and other similar Asian markets,” he added.
WIMWIsure, founded by IIM Ahmedabad Alumnus Kumar, raised a seed funding of Rs 1.8 crore earlier this year from angel investors including Yatra Angel Network (YAN) advisor Abhishant Pant, Paysense co-founder Sayali Karanjkar, and Beta Plus Capital.
YAN founder Abhishant Pant said, “WIMWISure is rightfully positioned as market leader in everything that is an insurable asset from motor to home to mobile to all the way up to cattle insurance. “We at YAN will continue to support them in catalysing this journey.”
WIMWIsure has partnered with over 10 general insurers, over 15 direct insurance brokers as well as over 20,000 intermediaries to streamline, expedite policy issuance and after-sale services across India.
