Prem Watsa's Fairfax Holdings invests $45 mn in parent of Digit Insurance

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Holdings has invested a second round of capital of $45 million in Digit Infoworks, a parent company for Digit insurance which is a new-age insurance start-up. A significant part of the investment ($44 million) will go to Digit Insurance. This is the largest round of capital infusion in the Indian general insurance ecosystem, the company claimed in a statement. It brings Digit’s total funding to $94 million. 

Digit Insurance plans to invest the money in technology to drive its mission of making insurance simple. A significant part of the funding will also be invested in launching new lines of products and expansion of its distribution network across the country.

Kamesh Goyal, Founder & Chairman, Digit Insurance, said, “Our investors have shown confidence in our mission of Making Insurance Simple which is heartening. And this round of funding will further help us in doing that.”

“Our long-term investment is directed towards bringing in technology that can automate & fasten processes and resolve customer pain points. For example, 100 per cent of our flight delay claims are automated & claims are processed in minutes; 87 per cent of our claim approvals happen in just 24 hours due to innovations like smartphone-enabled self-inspections. We also believe that claims are the sole reason why a customer buys our policies, so for us claims are good.” he further added.

Digit has also successfully partnered with companies like Flipkart, Paytm, Cleartrip, Sterling Holidays, SOTC, Policy Bazaar and  Tanishq with unique products like Screen Damage for mobile phones or flight delay cover starting from 75 minutes. It claims to have some differentiated features like IMEI linked cover, worldwide coverage. It is also a completely paperless company, accepting only soft copies throughout the buying and claims journey. In this short period of 6 months, Digit has diversified into mobile, cars, two-wheelers, travel and jewellery insurance, and has led to building a large base of over 400,000 + customers.