India’s capital markets regulator has moved Digit’s IPO application to “avoidance”, calling it a disappointing development for the online insurer’s plans to go public.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India, India’s market regulator, noted that it has upgraded the status of Fairfax-backed Digit and moved the process of issuing observations for the initial filing to rejection.
The $3.5 billion Indian startup Sequoia Capital India, which counts TVS Capital, A91 Partners and cricketer Virat Kohli and actress Anushka Sharma among its backers, filed a red herring prospectus last month.
According to TechCrunch, the five-year-old startup is looking to raise about $440 million for its initial public offering.
Digit sells auto, health and travel insurance and is part of a group of companies trying to expand the number of individuals buying insurance in India. Founded by Kamesh Goyal, a former KPMG executive with over three decades of experience in the insurance industry, Digit simplifies the insurance buying process by allowing users to self-check, make offers and submit service requests from their smartphones. He said in an application filed last month.
The startup, which distributes its insurance through 32,600 partners, including about 31,000 sales agents and brokers, posted a total revenue of $572 million and a loss of $37.29 million for the fiscal year ended in March.
SEBI’s move comes at a time when several domestic startups, including budget hotel chain Oyo and financial services platform, delayed their IPO plans while closely monitoring global market conditions, reversing much of the gains from the 13-year bull run. . SoftBank-backed OYO has filed fresh documents for public disclosure, it said on Monday.
Digit did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
