Xiaoxiong Insurance Files IPO Prospectus: Streamlining Purchase Paths with Curated Products for High-Quality, Low-Cost Coverage
Commercial insurance’s protection function participates in social risk management and plays a significant role. According to data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), in 2018, the premium volume of domestic commercial health insurance reached RMB 544.8 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 24.1%, the highest growth rate among all major categories of insurance business. Health insurance claims and benefits totaled RMB 174.434 billion, up 34.72% year on year. It is projected that by 2020, the annual new premium volume in China’s health insurance market will reach one trillion yuan.
The insurance market is witnessing an increasingly diverse product landscape, yet signs of homogenization are also emerging. Insurance products offered by different companies lack differentiation in serving distinct customer segments. Distribution channels remain heavily reliant on traditional life and property insurance agents, resulting in a lack of professionalism. Additionally, challenges such as difficulties in data acquisition and low levels of intelligence have gradually become pain points in the insurance market.
How to Distinguish and Purchase the Right Insurance: A Major Concern for Those in NeedFor novice users who feel overwhelmed, XiaoXiongBao offers a curated insurance product service, with a particular focus on personal health insurance.
Founded in 2017, Xiaoxiong Bao is a life insurance transaction service provider dedicated to offering users an end-to-end insurance purchasing experience. Since its inception, the company has secured angel investment from industry insiders. It currently offers more than ten insurance products, including life insurance, accident insurance, and critical illness insurance. Additionally, it has established partnerships with numerous domestic insurers such as Fosun United Health, Baonian Life Insurance, and CITIC-Prudential Life Insurance, serving thousands of customers to date.
2014 marked the inaugural year of internet insurance in China. Young professionals who recognized the potential of internet finance flocked to join the wave of internet entrepreneurship, among them Li Zhishan, founder of Xiaoxiong Bao. However, unlike other entrepreneurs, Li, having identified the right direction, did not launch a startup immediately. Instead, he joined a major domestic internet insurance platform as the Head of Brand and Public Relations, biding his time and building momentum for future ventures.
After several years of development, the internet insurance market has expanded rapidly, with more granular coverage categories and increasingly refined services. However, pain points have also emerged. First, health insurance requires a high level of expertise to underwrite, demanding significant time and effort from users to learn and understand the products. Second, the wide variety of insurance products, ranging in quality, often leads to decision-making difficulties for consumers. Li Zhishan stated that XiaoXiong Bao adopts a strategy of rigorously selecting products, enabling users to purchase suitable, relatively high-quality policies in the shortest possible time.
When asked why he chose to start a business in the internet insurance sector, Li Zhishan stated that with the intensifying aging population, individuals born in the 1980s and 1990s have become the primary workforce. To mitigate family risks, they have a strong demand for life insurance coverage. Furthermore, this demographic has largely formed the habit of conducting financial transactions online and is unfamiliar with offline insurance channels and the agent model, making them more inclined to meet their insurance purchasing needs through online platforms. Therefore, individuals born in the 1980s and 1990s, who hold high expectations for insurance products, are the target users of XiaoXiong Bao.
“The founding team of Xiaoxiong Bao also belongs to a demographic with strong insurance needs, so they better understand user demands.” After completing his studies at the Communication University of China, Li Zhishan served as a financial reporter for Phoenix News, Sina, and NetEase. He founded Pingbao, a third-party media platform dedicated to in-depth insurance evaluations, consistently producing educational content on insurance knowledge and becoming one of the most popular insurance educators. Moreover, the core members of the Xiaoxiong Bao team come from renowned companies such as Tencent, NetEase, Sina, and Ping An, bringing extensive experience in the development, operation, and service of internet-based insurance products.
“Insurance products are low-frequency products, with users engaging with them infrequently. Therefore, Xiaoxiong Bao’s business is primarily centered on the WeChat ecosystem, leveraging a combination of Official Accounts and Mini Programs to best align with user habits,” said Li Zhishan. He noted that Xiaoxiong Bao has established a complete closed-loop insurance transaction service, covering insurance consultation, online policy purchase, policy management, and claims assistance.
The starting point of Xiaoxiong Bao’s closed-loop service is insurance knowledge education. The Xiaoxiong Bao Service Account regularly publishes insurance-related knowledge and lecture content, including articles, images, audio, and video materials, to help potential users better understand topics such as the classification of insurance products, internet insurance knowledge and tips, and insurance product reviews.
The core offering is XiaoXiongBao’s carefully curated insurance products and tailored coverage plans designed for users. To reduce decision-making costs, XiaoXiongBao limits each insurance category to just 2–4 options, selecting only high-value, well-reviewed insurance products for its users.
The final stage of the closed loop is the subsequent claims assistance service. XiaoXiongBao provides one-on-one consultant support to ensure that users can complete every step on the platform, from purchase to final claim settlement, thereby enhancing user experience.
The entire insurance enrollment process for XiaoXiong Bao can be completed online. To enhance the digital experience, XiaoXiong Bao also offers paid insurance consultation services. These services are competitively priced and bundled with personalized customization. After purchasing a consultation package ranging from RMB 29 to RMB 99, users receive initial guidance and a tailored insurance plan from XiaoXiong Bao’s insurance advisors, who provide support throughout the process until the final policy purchase.
From a profitability perspective, XiaoXiong Bao primarily generates revenue through insurance brokerage fees, while its paid insurance knowledge services and subsequent value-added services also contribute to its income. According to Li Zhishan, XiaoXiong Bao has achieved profitability through content distribution, advertising placements, and multi-platform operations. Furthermore, the XiaoXiong Bao platform features several popular products, such as Fosun KangLe YiSheng Critical Illness Insurance and Ping An e-Sheng Million Medical Insurance, and has established partnerships with insurers including ZhongAn Insurance, Anxin Insurance, and Ping An. Its product offerings and services are expected to become increasingly comprehensive in the future.
Li Zhishan concluded by stating that Xiao Xiong Bao’s next step will be to expand its coverage to include family-based units, while also considering launching a new round of financing to optimize and iteratively update its products, as well as to attract more professional talent.