How, at 55, the founder of Digit Insurance built a unicorn in three years
Paris, December 2015
Kamesh Goyal was in deep turmoil for close to two months. Holidaying with his family in the French capital did little to distract the then 50-year-old from brooding about his next move. The insurance veteran, with over 32 years in the industry, was in a fix. His dilemma was understandable. “I had spent 16 wonderful years with Allianz,” recalls Goyal, who joined the German insurer in November 1999 as general manager at the Allianz India Liaison office. From heading Bajaj Allianz General Insurance in India to moving to Singapore as regional chief executive officer of Allianz Asia Pacific to heading the group’s planning and controlling for the German insurer at Munich, Goyal had an impressive professional stint so far. Still there was something missing.
Bothering Goyal was a fierce tug of war between the heart and the mind. Some of his friends in India and colleagues in Germany had been encouraging him to start his own venture; after all, he had the right kind of experience, connect and inclination. But it was a predictable line of thought that was deterring him: What if things didn’t work out? Goyal was 50, had all the material comforts life could offer, and was set to soar even higher in his professional career. Throwing it all away and starting from scratch seemed foolhardy and not worthy of the risk.
Goyal, however, was also keen to take the plunge. The reason was simple: this could be the last opportunity to try something new. Age was not on his side. But then, failure at this stage was also unthinkable. His mother could sense the agony. “What are you afraid of? What’s stopping you? All these years, you confidently invested in stocks and put money in other companies. “Ab samay aa gaya hai. Apne upar paisa lagao (The time has come. Now put money on yourself). Don’t worry about the consequences or any insecurities,” she told him.
The pep-talk from his mother worked like magic. In August 2016, after eight months as the head of asset management and US life insurance at Allianz, Goyal put in his papers. He incorporated general insurance startup Digit Insurance, applied for a license in December, and sold his first policy in October 2017. In a little over three years, Digit went on to become the first unicorn—a company with a valuation of $1 billion and above—of 2021. A fresh round of funding—reportedly Rs 135 crore—led by existing private equity investors such as A91 Partners, Faering Capital and TVS Capital valued the company at $1.9 billion in January.