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Mr Arun Jain, Chairman and CEO, Polaris Software Lab (left), and Mr Arup Gupta, Executive Director, President & Chief Operating Officer, addressing a press conference at Polaris’ SIPCOT facility near Chennai on Tuesday.

Our Bureau

Chennai, April 14 Polaris Software Lab plans to focus more on the insurance sector and intends to introduce new products and solutions for this vertical.

To take this idea forward, the company has decided to set up a ‘centre of excellence for insurance’ near its campus on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai, the foundation stone for which was laid on Tuesday.

The 2.5 lakh sq.ft. R&D facility will come up at an investment of around Rs 100 crore, said Mr Arun Jain, Founder and CEO of the company.

“In the last two decades, Polaris had a singular focus on BFSI, building a range of solutions. Expansion into ‘insurance’ is a natural choice,” he said.

The company, last year acquired a US-based insurance technology company, SEEC Inc.

According to him, the insurance business currently contributes Rs 95-100 crore to the company’s overall revenues, and with proposed products this is expected to touch Rs 250 crore in the next four years.

In the last few years, the company has invested close to Rs 400 crore in developing financial technology products. Currently, its insurance clientele includes biggies such as New York Life, ICICI Prudential, AIG and IDBI Fortis.

Polaris is also planning to expand its global footprint. Over the next two to three years, the company expects to enter the markets of Vietnam, Egypt and Chile.

“Any country that could add at least Rs 50 crore a year to our business, is worth setting up an office in,” Mr Jain explained. The company is also open to acquire companies in these countries.

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