After less than two years in business, Oona has already launched several new products, including a first-of-its-kind Flight Delay policy; announced plans to incorporate other insurance businesses and channel partners; and has 1.2 million customers across Indonesia and the Philippines. Sourabh explains, “Our mission is to be the most customer-centric and transformative digital insurer in Southeast Asia.” Smiling, he continues, “The whole idea is to look at the market and disrupt the entire insurance value chain—by doing things right for the customer.”

There are three elements to this strategy:

1. Customers first. As Sourabh describes it, the traditional way of providing insurance was selling products, or in other words looking at customers and the assets they have or things the insurer could cover, like your car, your home, healthcare, and travel. Oona has shifted this view. “Rather than selling you a motor policy, we look at what the protection needs are in a customer’s life and address those needs,” he says. “It’s about the whole premise of being a digital insurer who is with you in your day-to-day life, rather than being present for an event that might never happen.”
2. Accessible products and services. Oona’s second area of focus is building a technical infrastructure that quickly gets products and services into the hands of customers and distributors in an easy, accessible, and personalized way. “We looked at the entire insurance value chain and life cycle,” Sourabh adds. “And then we looked at the digital stack that supports it.” Having started with the company’s core policy platform as the engine, harmonizing the different elements brought in by its acquisitions, Sourabh’s team has moved on to address the middle office. “This is the highlight of our entire tech stack, because it gives us the ability to offer and configure products and services—both our own and those that are offered by our ecosystem partners—at very short notice,” he continues. The third element is digital engagement platforms for both Oona’s customers and its own agents, making it easy to do business with and on behalf of the company.
3. Making insurance more efficient. The third building block is finding and implementing new efficiencies throughout the value chain. “It’s a continuous work in progress, and I won’t say everything is done, because this is about constant improvement for us,” says Sourabh. “But we have looked at everything, beyond issuance and renewals, from both an insurance and a customer standpoint, and said, ‘How can we make that a little better, a little more customer-centric?’ We’re on a journey with it.”

Oona is in the unusual position of being both a start-up and the product of two established businesses, which means that in addition to streamlining and harmonizing its technology infrastructure, it has employed a “buy-and-build” approach from day one. For Sourabh, when it comes to technology, build or buy is a perennial question.

“I don’t think there’s any right or wrong answer,” he states. “Plus, everything is about the point in time, what is right for us today. At Oona, we are starting up. We know where we will and will not add value. And hence every decision is based on that. Where we can add value to our business, to our customers, to our distributors, or to our employees, we will build it. So that means things like the engine around pricing and rating, where the entire logic is from us; the engagement platforms that we are building, where we want to control the service we provide to our customers; and any insights related to customer data. Otherwise, where it doesn’t add value for us to do it ourselves, we will buy.”

In other respects, there is one clear choice for Oona, particularly when it comes to goal setting, forming successful partnerships, and who stands to benefit when the business succeeds:

1. One KPI. According to Sourabh, the firm was very clear about the expectations of the team from day one: that everyone’s goal is the same. “It’s very simple. While we all have our jobs to do, whether that is from a tech standpoint, or from a digital product standpoint, or underwriting, or operations, the ultimate goal is to be customer-focused. It’s thinking from a first principles perspective and asking ourselves are we really solving the problem for the customer. Then organizational boundaries, department boundaries, don’t exist at all. For example, when we are launching a product, everyone comes together, and our goal is the same: provide that customer delight. For us, it’s a single KPI. It doesn’t matter who delivers it; everyone wins.” 
2. One team. This thinking also trickles through into the way Oona works with its partners. As Sourabh says, “First of all, I don’t talk about vendors; the terminology is always about partners. The moment you use the word ‘partner’ there’s skin in the game.” This is important when it comes to forming strategic partnerships that are focused on joint outcomes, rather than transactional or activity-based models. “It’s a function of both willingness and capability and what stage partners are at,” Sourabh adds. “If you ask a start-up in insurtech to start putting in a lot of outcome-based decisions and invest on their own behalf, it can be difficult. At the same time, some of them are more willing to embrace these models than even established players. From our standpoint, if a partner is willing to put their skin in the game it will be a win-win, and many companies, big and small, are already working with us in this way.”
3. One ecosystem. Reflecting on the concept of regenerative transformation as something that goes beyond customers to encompass companies’ employees and the broader communities they operate in, Sourabh emphasizes Oona’s focus on the wider insurance ecosystem. “When you talk about regenerative, the entire set of stakeholders is important and they all play a key role,” he says. “Customer is our primary focus point. But our distributors, including agents, brokers, banks, and so on, they all have their own roles to play. That’s the second bucket. Third are our own employees. And fourth, our partners, suppliers, third-party providers. In short, we want to create a win-win for all of them, whether it is by the products and services that we generate and sell, or by the value that we can add. For example, our commercial lines of business touch many different industries and service partners that play a very important role in their countries’ economies. And that’s the way we are doing it.”

Oona has achieved a lot since its launch just over 18 months ago and, having set out with big ambitions, Sourabh and the rest of the team are intent on making sure the company continues to grow and flourish in three key areas:

1. Customers and products. Firstly, Oona will continue to look for opportunities to find new opportunities along the insurance value chain. “The launches we have done so far have been primarily focused on acquisition or engagement platforms,” Sourabh clarifies. “But there is more to do in terms of renewals, in terms of endorsements, in terms of claims… for us, sales are not the end of the journey. We want service, we want customer retention. And hence there’s a lot of work to develop our engagement platforms, the back office, the middle office, the kind of services we want to provide, and the kind of partners we want to bring in.” Secondly, as Sourabh points out, the quest to launch innovative products and services that meet real customer needs will continue. “Last October, we launched a product called Flight Delay,” he says. “Essentially, any time your flight is late we will automatically issue a lounge voucher to your registered email. You don’t even have to file a claim because we are partnered with the flight aggregator, so we come to you. That’s where we want to be. And that’s probably what will increase customers’ trust in us.” 
2. Company and employees. As a firm born out of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, Oona is not starting from square one when it comes to processes, ways of working, and employee culture. When asked if evolving the organization in line with new ways of working and thinking has been a challenge, Sourabh is pragmatic, yet optimistic. “Change management is always tough,” he says. “Let’s be honest, when we bring in any kind of M&A model, there will always be some skepticism and [some questions]. But as long as those basics are taken care of and we communicate the vision and how we want to take it forward, people will come along. So far, our experience has been relatively happy in that respect because we have talked, communicated, and people have openly embraced change. Everyone is very excited for this new chapter of Oona. And I hope that continues.” 
3. Individually. Finally, Sourabh acknowledges the importance of continuous learning and is a keen advocate for it. Asked about his own journey and what he has learned along the way, he responds, “I am still a work in progress; each one of us is a work in progress, right? There are lots of things which I’ve learned and I’m thankful to my team and my set of mentors and leaders who have given me that opportunity over almost 25 years. But I always go with a few guiding principles. One, never stop learning. Two, you should be the first one to accept your mistake. Because we all make mistakes, and that’s the work in progress. Three, if you really have a passion and love for what you do (and I really do believe in the power of insurance), I think you can always keep it exciting. And have fun while you are doing it. And that’s what I’m doing.”

So, in the end, it’s not just about regenerative business, it’s about regenerative individuals? “Absolutely.”

Watch these short video clips to catch up on our conversation with Sourabh about Oona’s rapid growth, and how digital technologies and a customer-first mindset are advancing its goal of becoming the general insurer of choice for both customers and partners across Southeast Asia.