Insurance Regulator Saw Us As Crooks, Destroyed Our Company: Kenko Health Co-Founder
Aniruddha Sen said that he and his co-founder went on a 'wild goose chase' for two years at the IRDAI in the hope of securing an insurance licence.
Months after it shut operations, healthtech startup Kenko Health has alleged that red-tapism and a complete lack of support by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India led to the downfall of the company.
In a post on Medium, co-founder Aniruddha Sen penned a note on why the company was unable to survive, despite having raised about $14 million at a $40 million valuation from investors like Peak XV Partners, Beenext, Orios, 9Unicorns, and Waveform Ventures.
Sen said that he and his co-founder went on a "wild goose chase" for two years at the IRDAI in the hope of securing an insurance licence.
"The journey started with a public call from the chairman for startups to step forward, raise capital and apply for a licence," he wrote.
The company went with the regulator's call, against better judgement and hindsight of past experience, "only to face an onslaught of obstacles that culminated in the destruction of our company, our employees’ livelihoods, and our collective dreams", Sen said.
He alleged that senior officials at IRDAI saw entrepreneurs as "crooks, simply because we aspired to create wealth". "At the same time, if the colour of our skin were different, they would bend over backwards to impress, as we found later on", he claimed.
Sen added that despite meeting every single requirement, they were never once informed that their licence would be denied. "This led us to a pivotal meeting with the chairman, a man who initially encouraged startups like ours, but who had now done a complete about-turn," he said.
Sen alleged that Debashish Panda, chairman of IRDAI, was "dismissive and condescending" and said they “don’t fit the profile” of promoters for an Indian financial services company.
"He dismissed us, saying that only wealthy, well-connected individuals were suited for such roles. We had spent 15 to 20 years in insurance, yet we were being brushed aside by a man whose own understanding of the sector was, at best, superficial...This level of immaturity and irresponsibility should be condemned," Sen alleged in his note.
IRDAI did not respond to NDTV Profit's queries at the time of publishing this report.
Mumbai-based Kenko was founded in 2019 and offered subscription-based health plans that included outpatient department benefits, medicines, and healthcare products.
