Indian insurtech startup Digit achieves unicorn status after $18.5m raise

Indian insurtech firm Digit Insurance announced it has raised 135 crore rupees (US$18.5 million) from existing investors, bringing its valuation to US$1.9 billion and achieving unicorn status.

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

However, the company didn’t name the participating investors.

The recent investment comes exactly a year after Digit had received approval from India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to raise US$84 million from A91 Partners, Faering Capital, and TVS Capital.

The Fairfax-backed company aims to simplify insurance by using cloud-based technology like smartphone-enabled self-inspection and audio claims. Its portfolio of products includes motor, travel, property, and health insurance.

Founded in 2017, the company claims to have acquired 15 million customers since its inception.

“In an almost-recession like year for most businesses and when the insurance industry itself grew by 0.1%, Digit grew by 31.9%, earning a premium of US$186 million between April 2020 and December 2020,” the company said in a statement.

Digit also claims that it has recorded profits in three quarters of its 2020-2021 fiscal year by providing its Digit Group Illness Insurance product to over two million customers.

See also: How insurtech startup Papaya looks to digitalize Vietnam’s opaque insurance industry

The company held a 1.2% market share of the overall general insurance industry in India, it noted in January last year.

India’s insurance market is poised to grow to US$250 billion by 2025, according to research by Invest India.

Another player in the country’s insurance segment is Sequoia-backed Turtlemint, which raised US$30 million in a financing round led by GGV Capital.