Startup news and updates: daily roundup (April 30, 2022)

Digit Insurance's annual revenue crosses Rs 5,000 Cr

Achieved in less than five years, insurtech startup Digit Insurance reported Rs 5,268 crore in gross written premiums in FY21-22.

With this milestone, the unicorn is now one of the fastest-growing private general insurers in India with over Rs 5,000 crore in revenue in a single year.

Led by its motor, property, and health lines of business, the company reported a growth of 62 percent, while the overall industry growth stood at 10.9 percent.

From its motor portfolio, Digit clocked Rs 3,276 crore in revenue, with its market share (for motor business) going up to 4.7 percent in FY 21-22 from 3.7 percent in FY 20-21. Since its inception, the company has serviced 99.56 percent of India’s total postal codes.

In FY 21-22, Digit sold over 77.6 lakh policies across all products, an increase of 40 percent, compared to the previous financial year. Further, its health portfolio saw a growth of 132 percent over FY 20-21 led by group business.  

Digit’s loss ratio — a metric that represents the ratio of losses to profits earned — narrowed for both health and fire segments. Its health loss ratio decreased considerably to 47 percent in FY 21-22 from 69 percent in the previous year.

Jasleen Kohli, MD and CEO, Digit Insurance, said, “Given our innovative group health products, we saw strong growth in our health portfolio in FY 21-22. We were also able to successfully lower our loss ratio by improving our underwriting models and claims management process. To sustain our overall business growth, we will continue to focus on deploying advanced tech tools to empower our partners and customers.”

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ED seizes Rs 5,551 Cr deposits of Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi for FEMA violation

The Enforcement Directorate Saturday "seized" over Rs 5,551 crore worth fund of Chinese mobile manufacturing company Xiaomi for violating the Indian foreign exchange law, officials said.

In a press release after the ED's statement, Xiaomi India said its operations in the country are "firmly compliant with local laws and regulations". The company is a trader and distributor of mobile phones in the country under the brand name MI.

"Xiaomi India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China-based Xiaomi Group, and Rs 5,551.27 crore lying in the bank accounts of the company has been seized by the Enforcement Directorate," the agency said in a statement.

The seizure has been done under sections of the Foreign Exchange Management (FEMA) Act after a probe was launched by the federal agency against the company in connection with alleged "illegal remittances" sent abroad by the Chinese firm in February.

Xiaomi began its operations in India in 2014 and started remitting the money the next year, the agency said.

"The company has remitted foreign currency equivalent to Rs 5,551.27 crore to three foreign-based entities, which include one Xiaomi Group entity, in the guise of royalty," the ED said.

In a statement, a Xiaomi spokesperson said "as a brand committed to India, all our operations are firmly compliant with local laws and regulations. We have studied the order from government authorities carefully. We believe our royalty payments and statements to the bank are all legit and truthful. These royalty payments that Xiaomi India made were for the in-licensed technologies and IPs used in our Indian version products."

"It is a legitimate commercial arrangement for Xiaomi India to make such royalty payments. However, we are committed to working closely with government authorities to clarify any misunderstandings," the spokesperson added.

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[Funding alert] Securonix raises over $1B led by Vista Equity Partners

[Funding alert] Securonix adds four new strategic investors in its $1B+ growth-stage round

Texas, United States-headquartered cybersecurity company Securonix has added Capital One Ventures, Snowflake Ventures, Verizon Ventures, and Wipro Ventures in its over $1 billion growth-stage round led by Vista Equity Partners, which focuses on enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled businesses.

These strategic investments will allow Securonix to build and expand relationships with existing customers and partners as it continues to set the standard for cloud-native security analytics and operations. 

Sachin Nayyar, CEO, Securonix, said, “The collection of strategic investments and technology partnerships will help Securonix with broader solution offerings, expanded global footprint, and accelerate our trajectory as one of cybersecurity’s next great companies.”

Qualcomm, MeitY’s C-DAC partner to support Indian semiconductor startups

Qualcomm India has partnered with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), an autonomous scientific society of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), to conduct the Qualcomm® Semiconductor Mentorship Programme (QSMP) 2022 for select startups from the semiconductor space in India.

C-DAC will be an outreach partner for the programme who will provide and facilitate mentorship, technical training, and industry outreach, as well as facilitate exposure for the participating startups.