Gigacover, a leading financial platform for independent workers announces solid Southeast Asia momentum as gig economy accelerates

SINGAPORE, July 2021 — Independent worker champion Gigacover has announced new financial services for its customers in Southeast Asia, including earnings advances and productivity loan facilitation on top of existing insurance solutions to cater to the needs of the growing gig economy. Gigacover already counts some of the region’s largest companies as clients such as GoJek, Foodpanda and Gogox in Singapore, and has recently expanded its key clients to include Lalamove and AXA Financial Agents in Indonesia, while acquiring more local players at the same time.

Based on the World Bank’s 2019 estimates, Southeast Asia’s independent workforce has seen a consistent 30% annual growth. This has only accelerated in 2020 during the pandemic, according to Gigacover’s estimates. As of 2019 present, approximately 150 million self-employed individuals constitute the region’s workforce of which 50% are underbanked and underprotected, per Google and Temasek’s estimates.

Based on a survey Gigacover conducted amongst 1,183 delivery riders in Singapore, 83.9% of the delivery riders rate accident coverage as the most important in an insurance plan, whilst 74.3% seek income protection insurance in the face of illness. Despite the fluctuating nature of the delivery riders income, there is still an appetite for affordable and flexible protection with over 80% of respondents willing to spend on one of Gigacover’s insurance plans, and almost 90% registered that being covered would encourage them to take more orders.

In Indonesia, more than 50% of independent workers cited access to cash and hospital cash as preferred benefits. In Jakarta, Gigacover saw a threefold increase in the number of earnings advances and micro-insurance transactions in Q2 of 2021.

Said Amerson Lin, Co-founder & CEO of Gigacover, “Southeast Asia’s gig workers and freelancers present a number of fintech challenges and opportunities with increased scrutiny from regulators and workers clamouring for more transparency and fairness. Our approach to the problem is to be the hub between businesses, financial institutions, governments and independent workers, by supporting and providing them with financial products that will meet their needs and protect their interests. We see a huge growth opportunity as more millennials are choosing self-employment, and enterprises are embracing a hybrid workforce by taking on more contract staff and contingent workers. Over the next 5 years, we hope to expand to several more markets across the region and actualise our vision of serving over 20 million users.”

At present, Gigacover has a presence in Singapore and Indonesia and has already started the groundwork in the Philippines as part of its expansion strategy in Southeast Asia.

“I was an independent worker once and could not get a credit card from a local bank due to not having a fixed income,” shared Amerson. “This pain point became real to me. Financial inclusion and stability remain to be pressing challenges that stand in the way of a sustainable ecosystem for the gig economy in the region. As a financial platform, our ambition is to work with financial institutions and regulators in the region to address some of the overlooked issues in today’s gig economy. Gigacover hopes that the choice to be an independent worker can be just as valid, stable and rewarding as choosing to be employed.”

A recent beneficiary of Gigacover's Freelancers Earning Protection Plan (FLEP) is Freddie Tan, a Gojek driver who was issued with a quarantine order of 14 days, resulting in a loss of income. Tan was able to claim over S$1,000 through the income protection plan, which helped him and his family tide through the challenging period.

"I would like to thank and offer my appreciation to Gigacover for helping me during this difficult period when I was given a quarantine order to stay home. During this time, I was unable to work and I still had my bills and car rental charges to pay for. If not for Gigacover’s FLEP, I would not have received any form of income,” shared Freddie.

Gigacover raised its oversubscribed seed round in 2019 which was co-led by Vectr Fintech and Quest Venture Partners, and joined by Alto Partners, M Venture Partners and Farsight Capital. Investors were attracted to Gigacover given the pedigree of the founders, as well as the massive opportunity for freelance workers in emerging markets.

"Gigacover is a unique solution that fills the gap between traditional insurance and financial service partners, which can be prohibitively expensive for gig economy workers and the platforms they are on. Gigacover has grown exponentially and we are excited to continue to back this leader in Southeast Asia and look forward to supporting their continued expansion," said Mark Munoz, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Vectr Fintech Partners.