Indian insurtech firm Digit to raise $84m in equity funding

Fairfax Group-backed insurtech startup Digit Insurance said it has received approval from India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to raise US$84 million from A91 Partners, Faering Capital, and TVS Capital.

Digit founder and chairman Kamesh Goyal / Photo credit: Digit Insurance

The combined investment would bring Digit’s total funding raised to US$224 million, according to a statement. In addition to the institutional investments, the Bengaluru-based company said that 72 of its employees have also chipped in a total of US$4.3 million as part of the round.

Founded in 2016, Digit offers a portfolio of products across vehicle, travel, property, and health insurance. It said that within two years of operation, the company now serves more than 5 million customers and has achieved almost US$300 million of annualized premium. Digit also noted that it currently has a 1.2% market share of the overall general insurance industry in India.

If the company achieves its US$84 million target raise, it would be the largest funding round in the general insurance space in India, according to the statement.

Data from India Brand Equity Foundation shows that the Indian insurance industry is expected to grow to US$280 billion by 2020 on the back of higher personal disposable incomes in the country.

Acko is another startup looking to capitalize on the sector’s growth. The online insurance firm, which uses behavior analysis to offer a range of personalized insurance products, raised US$12 million back in 2018 in a round led by US ecommerce giant Amazon.

Another player is Mumbai-based Turtlemint, an insurance distribution startup that banked US$25 million in series B money in a round led by Sequoia India in 2019. It planned to use the funds to scale its operations and increase the number of its on-field agents.