India’s latest unicorn: Digit Insurance

Good morning!

Like we said, 2021 is proving to be very exciting for the Indian startup ecosystem. Earlier this week, Zerodha launched Rainmatter Climate while BYJU’S acquired Aakash Educational Services for $1 billion.

And the good news just keeps coming.

On Friday, Digit Insurance became India’s first unicorn of 2021. The first insurtech startup in this coveted club, Digit Insurance is now valued at $1.9 billion. 

With this new entrant, India now has more than 35 unicorn startups, around 11 of which were added in 2020 alone. These 11 startups came from several segments — such as fintech, edtech, consumer internet, and content. 

In fact, on December 22, two companies — InMobi's subsidiary Glance and DailyHunt's parent entity VerSe Innovation — achieved billion-dollar valuations — closing 2020 on a high for the Indian startup ecosystem.

Industry experts have predicted that India will have 100 unicorns by 2025. And given the rate at which new unicorns are being added, the Indian startup ecosystem seems to be well on track to achieve that.

Last year, on YourStory’s Money Matters with Shradha Sharma, investor Mohandas Pai had asserted that India’s 60+ soonicorns will achieve unicorn status by 2025. 

“Unlike the US or Europe, our market is not saturated, and has plenty of room for growth. These soonicorns have good technology, business models, customer outreach, and have grown while raising capital at the right time,” said Pai.

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The Interview 

Subramanya SV turned to the financial services sector when the wealth industry wasn't as mainstream as it is today. He decided to use technology to solve the problems of access, simplicity, and trust, and started Fisdom in 2016. A pioneer in the B2B2C wealth management space, Fisdom is driving wealthtech innovation in India and Bharat, with the aim of becoming a broad-based financial services company.

Here are some key takeaways from the interview:

From venture investing to becoming an entrepreneurDigitalising financial servicesHow banks partnered with FisdomUsing data analytics to study Indian consumer behaviourFisdom’s North Star Metric

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Startup Spotlight

Ahmedabad-based startup NewsReach enables local publishers and content providers to go digital

If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us one lesson, it's that having an online presence is the need of the hour. The crisis also signified the importance of empowering vernacular media outlets and content creators in rural and semi-urban areas. To facilitate the local news ecosystem, Ahmedabad-based NewsReach enables local publications and news outlets to create their digital presence. Read more.

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Editor’s Pick: YourStory Explainer

Here's all you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in India

The moment we all have been waiting for has finally arrived. Today, India will begin the first phase of its COVID-19 vaccination drive, touted as one of the largest coronavirus inoculation drives in the world by PM Narendra Modi. The recipients would include private and government healthcare workers, frontline workers, sanitation workers, defence personnel, and police and paramilitary forces. Read more.

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News & Updates

Bengaluru-based insure-tech startup Digit Insurance becomes the first Indian startup to enter the coveted unicorn club in 2021, valued at $1.9 billion.

Logistics unicorn Delhivery has narrowed its losses to Rs 269 crore in FY20 from Rs 1772.7 crore in FY19, on the back of increased revenue, resulting from increased ecommerce activities amidst a nationwide lockdown.

Google has completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, a deal that could help the internet company grow even stronger, while the US government regulators pursue an antitrust case aimed at undermining its power.

Wikipedia, the world’s largest free online encyclopedia has turned 20. This milestone commemorates two decades of its global effort to support free knowledge, open collaboration, and trust on the internet.

Encrypted messaging apps Signal and Telegram are seeing huge upticks in downloads from Apple and Google's app stores, following a fiasco that forced WhatsApp to clarify a privacy update it had sent to users.

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Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“We will create for India, and from India. A company which builds for India, can build for the world.”

— Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Ola Group

Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Ola

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