Eurazeo introduces $215 mln Southeast Asia-focused insurtech fund

French private equity firm Eurazeo has rolled out a $215 million fund focusing on insurance technology startups in Southeast Asia, home to more than 650 million people and some of the world's fastest-growing economies like Vietnam.

With 32 billion euros in assets under management, the Paris-listed firm has named Albert Shyy as managing director of its Singapore office, which oversees the new fund.

Shyy used to be the managing director for Asia at BurdaPrincipal Investments, the capital arm of media and tech company Hubert Burda Media. He also used to work for e-commerce platform Lazada, backed by Chinese giant Alibaba Group.

Eurazeo said the new fund would last 10 years and plans to invest in growth-stage companies. In May this year, the firm led a $65 million investment into Indonesian insurtech startup Qoala, which distributes retail insurance products to consumers for cars, bikes, homes, and health through its Omnichannel platform.

Insurtech, inspired by the term fintech, refers to the use of technology innovations designed to squeeze out savings from the current insurance industry model. Those fintech companies focusing on insurance are known as insurtech firms.

Eurazeo has established a long-standing presence in France and other European markets and expanded into North America and Asia over the past 10 years.