Barely two weeks into 2021 and India’s burgeoning startup industry has already found its first unicorn of the year. Insurance tech startup Digit insurance has hit a valuation of $1.9 Bn following an undisclosed amount of funding by its existing investors.
It must be noted that the Pune based startup doesn’t have a long history of funding. Its $85 Mn funding in January last year was its first ever external funding, which technically means that it has managed to achieve the unicorn status only with its second external funding round. This is a rare feet for an Indian startup.
The $85 Mn funding gave the startup an eye-popping valuation of $850 – 900 Mn. The funding gave all its existing investors collectively 10% stake in the company.
Digit’s Insurance operating profit for FY20 stood at approximately INR 226 Crore as compared to 299 Crore in FY19. This is as per the regulatory filings, which was accessed by Techpluto.
Who are Digit insurance’s existing investors?
- A91 Partners
- Faering Capital
- TVS Capital
It must be noted that $85 Mn funding round also participation of power couple Virat Kholi and Anushka Sharma. As per the regulatory filings accessed by Techpluto, Digit Insurance has allotted 2,66,667 equity shares to Virat Kholi and 6,6667 equity shares to Anushka Sharma at a premium of RS 65 per share.
Last year (2020) turned out to be a pretty good year for the tech insurance space. Many promising startups including Turtlemint and Plum managed to raise impressive funding rounds from investors. Additionally, last year Acko General Insurance raised $60 Mn in a round led by German insurance giant Munich Re.
2020 also the entry of a big elephant in the room, after Paytm made an official foray into the insurance space by acquiring Mumbai based insurance company Raheja QBE.
What is making everyone buoyant about the insurance space is the low penetration of insurance in India. As per the rough estimate, insurance penetration in India stands at merely 3.69%, which is among the lowest in the world.