For Vipula Dharmapala, Chief Executive Officer and Director at InsureMe, the enduring perception of insurance as a complex and intimidating subject is not merely a consumer issue; it is a leadership challenge. In an industry built to protect people during moments of uncertainty, he believes confusion should never be the default experience. For him, innovation in insurance must begin with peo-ple. Leadership, he says, “Must take responsibility for simplifying what has long been accepted as complicated.” That conviction has shaped InsureMe’s evolution from a digital aggregator into a governance-led, technology-enabled insurance platform.
The Beginnings: Identifying a Broken Experience
InsureMe was founded in 2016 with the goal of bridging the gap between insurance providers and consumers. While insurance penetration was increasing, customer understanding, trust, and satisfaction levels remained unchanged. Policies were difficult to compare, exclusions were poorly explained, and the claims process was opaque. Insurance was being sold, but not truly understood. Vipula states, “From a leadership standpoint, this highlighted a deeper issue: the industry was designed around products and processes, not people. InsureMe set out to reverse this by building a platform that placed clarity, choice, and accountability at the center of the insurance experience.”
Why Insurance Still Feels Complex
Observing the market, Vipula comments, “For many Sri Lankans, insurance continues to feel inaccessible because it is wrapped in technical language, fragmented distribution, and inconsistent service delivery. Decision-making is often driven by trust in intermediaries rather than confidence in information.” Over time, this has reinforced a mindset in which insurance is something endured, rather than something to be embraced. The leadership at InsureMe recognised that complexity is not inherent to insurance; it is the outcome of legacy thinking. Fixing it required more than digitisation; it required redesigning the experience end to end.
The Consumer Problem InsureMe Is Solving
At its core, InsureMe addresses three key consumer pain points: lack of a plethora of options for an informed & suitable pur- chase, lack of confidence during claims, and lack of accountability across the insurance lifecycle. “As Sri Lanka’s first end-to-end digital insurance aggregator, InsureMe enables customers to compare, purchase, and manage policies across insurers through a single, transparent platform. But leadership understood early that the true test of insurance is not at the point of sale, it is at the point of a claim,” states Vipula. This insight reshaped InsureMe’s strategy, shifting focus towards settling claims and building consumer trust.
DIGIS: Technology with Purpose
“Technology must solve real problems, not add complexity,” states Vipula. That principle shaped the creation of DIGIS, the company’s InsurTech arm. It was built to bring discipline and transparency to insurance operations that had long relied on manual, fragmented processes. Through platforms such as DigiEye, DigiMed, and DigiEx, InsureMe has digitised and standardised key functions that were traditionally manual and fragmented.
DigiEye supports structured digital assessments for motor claims. DigiMed streamlines medical claims for corporates and insurers. DigiEx automates expense reimbursements, improving auditability and speed. Together, these systems reduce friction at critical points, making technology a governance tool rather than an added layer of efficiency. DIGIS also marked InsureMe’s first international expansion, with its deployment in Singapore for AJAX International. Vipula credits these achievements as demonstrations that the company’s systems are scalable, compliant, and ready for export.
Leadership Depth That Enables Execution
“Behind InsureMe’s progress is a leadership team that combines strategic vision with operational discipline,” states Vipula. With over two decades in finance and insurance, including senior leadership roles at HNB Assurance and HNB General Insurance, he has focused on building an institution grounded in trust, governance, and long-term value.
Alongside him is Indika Prematunga, Co-founder and Director at InsureMe, whom he credits as a key driver of these efforts. With more than 20 years of experience in finance, strategy, and corporate governance, and having served in senior roles at AIA Insurance Lanka and Union Assurance, Indika has been central to shaping InsureMe’s corporate structure, partnerships, and governance framework.
Vipula adds that the company’s execution strength is reinforced by Niranjan Manickam, Director at InsureMe, whose experience in insurance operations, product development, and distribution has been vital in translating strategy into action. Niranjan led the development of InsureMe’s technical architecture and innovation pipeline, including the launch of Sri Lanka’s first “per day” insurance product, designed around customer flexibility and accessibility.
Governance, Compliance, and Trust: A Public Company Mindset
Vipula goes on to explain that InsureMe’s foundation is built on strong governance and regulatory discipline. The company operates within a rigorous compliance framework and is among the few insurance intermediaries in Sri Lanka licensed by the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRCSL) to function as a Reinsurance Broker.
He says, “This reflects both technical expertise and a mature understanding of risk and global insurance structures. InsureMe’s compliance first culture, supported by ISO-aligned processes and internal controls, reinforces that approach.” He adds that governance is treated not as a procedural requirement but as a strategic strength, one that supports sustainable growth and strengthens stakeholder confidence.
InsureMe’s recent listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange marked a defining milestone and an extension of that philosophy. “Becoming a public company signals readiness for greater transparency, accountability, and institutional discipline,” Vipula noted. “It shows confidence in governance maturity and a commitment to long-term value creation beyond short-term growth.”
Making Insurance Easy as a Leadership Choice
“For InsureMe, ‘Making Insurance Easy for Everyone’ is not a slogan, it is a management philosophy,” states Vipula. Simplicity, he goes on to explain, is a leadership choice that demands empathy, clarity, and disciplined execution. By aligning people, processes, and technology under strong governance, InsureMe has worked to challenge the belief that insurance must be complex. Vipula adds that when leadership takes ownership of customer experience, trust follows, and insurance begins to serve the people it was meant to protect.