Jupiter's Insurance Bet, Zoho’s Zia LLM, and Ullu Ventures Into Web3 Space

Jupiter Money getting its insurance license from IRDAI last week was more than just adding a new service; it was a desperately needed support. For years, India’s neo‑banks impressed investors with lots of users and cool apps, but they learned that free accounts and cashback don't actually make money. Customer‑acquisition costs north of ₹1,000 per user and interchange revenue measured in pennies mean the moment you stop subsidizing growth, the P&L bleeds red. It was inevitable that these digital challengers would go after more profitable services, starting with loans and now insurance, to make profit from fees rather than making losses.

India’s insurance market is already worth over $131 billion (roughly ₹11 lakh crore) and is projected to grow at a 12-14 percent CAGR over the next five years, yet digital channels still account for barely 0.7 percent of life‑insurance sales. Neo‑banks see a huge opportunity: on a ₹5,000 annual premium, IRDAI allows up to 30 percent commission - which is ₹1,500 in upfront fees that can cover a user’s entire acquisition cost and more.

Jupiter isn't the only one doing this. Fi’s personal‑loan book grew by over 50 percent year‑on‑year in FY24, and it also rolled out small‑ticket credit lines to its 1.5 million users. Niyo partnered with Religare in 2022 to bundle health and travel plans into its expense‑tracker, reporting a 2× jump in policy sales. Open has piloted working‑capital loans for merchants on its API rails, and RazorpayX is exploring insurance cross‑sells to its business‑banking customers.

Jupiter’s early results underscore the thesis. By analyzing transaction patterns, frequent rideshares or pharmacy spends, the app nudged gig‑economy workers toward personal‑accident cover and young families toward health floaters. In its initial pilot, 15 percent of eligible users opted into a discounted family‑health plan within two weeks, which is double the average digital‑channel take‑rate. If that scale holds, insurance earnings could close the gap between getting lots of users and making money from each one.

But execution risks loom. India’s non‑life insurers saw gross direct premiums grow by mere 6.2 percent to ₹3.08 trillion in FY25, down from 12.8 percent growth the year before, and overall penetration slipped from 4.2 percent in 2022 to 4.0 percent in 2023. Super‑apps like Paytm and PhonePe, with 200 million‑plus active wallets, can cross‑sell at near‑zero incremental CAC, risking a discount war that erodes margins. Regulatory mis‑steps, KYC lapses or sluggish claims settlements would invite IRDAI scrutiny and shake customer trust.

Jupiter has made smart moves to succeed. They've partnered with Bajaj Allianz and HDFC ERGO, insurers that settle over 95% of claims, and appointed veteran Prateek Kumar as an independent advisor to handle compliance. The app plans to include insurance suggestions in its "Insights" feed and will send reminders for car inspections and annual health checks ahead of time. The goal is to make coverage feel like an integral feature of financial health, not an afterthought.

We believe Jupiter must do three things to win. First, it should deep‑link coverage into financial goals - “insure your family and unlock higher interest on savings” - could make policies feel less like add‑ons and more like core features. Next, it should Investing in post‑sale service - fast onboarding, 24×7 helplines and educational content on claims - to distinguish trusted advisors from mere policy merchants. And lastly, branching into niche products such as crop insurance for rural gig workers and cyber‑protection for small e‑commerce sellers, to unlock underserved segments that super‑apps generally overlook.

If Jupiter nails this, it could rewrite the neo‑bank playbook and help capture a slice of a market growing at double‑digit CAGRs. But the margin for error is thin - IRDAI's 2047 target of universal insurance coverage won't wait for digital banks to figure things out.

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“Say Hello To My Little Friend”: Zoho Adds To Enterprise SaaS Suite With Agentic Capabilities, Zia LLM

Zoho just supercharged its enterprise SaaS suite with AI brains - say hello to Zia LLM and its new Agentic AI builder.

Built on NVIDIA’s high-performance computing backbone, this rollout brings a full stack of AI tools including speech recognition and custom agents. The goal is to make secure, low-friction AI adoption a breeze for businesses that don’t want to wrestle with code.

Read more here

“Swagat Nahi Karoge Humara”: Ullu Ventures Into Web3 Space With UlluCoin

Ullu has stepped into the Web3 arena with UlluCoin, marking a new chapter in its digital evolution. With a capped supply of 100 billion tokens, the coin is set to power a decentralised content ecosystem - unlocking premium access, in-app utilities, and fan engagement.

It’s a cautious but significant move toward blending entertainment with blockchain infrastructure.

Read more here

“Mala Zau De Sahab”: Commuters Hit Hard As Ola, Uber Drivers Protest In Mumbai

Ola and Uber drivers brought Mumbai traffic to a crawl with a flash protest at Azad Maidan, demanding fair pay and faster rollout of the aggregator policy.

Backed by gig workers across Maharashtra, they’re calling out the growing gap between app-based and traditional cab earnings.

Read more here

“AI Ki Shakti Doom Machaye”: Airtel partners with Perplexity to offer free AI-powered Pro subscription

Airtel just handed its 360 million users a digital power-up - a free year of Perplexity Pro, the AI search engine with real-time, model-selecting brains.

From GPT-4.1 to Claude, deep research to image generation, it's all bundled for pros, students, and the endlessly curious. All you need is the Airtel Thanks app and a question worth asking.

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1. Lo! Foods is closing in on ₹100 Cr ARR, powered by the rise of its high-protein brand, Protein Chef. With a fresh $3.5M from Rainmatter Health and others, the startup now eyes a deeper bite into India’s protein-first snacking market.
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2. Parkobot has raised ₹2.09 Cr in seed funding led by Inflection Point Ventures to scale its IoT-powered smart parking platform. By turning idle parking spots into rentable assets, the startup aims to ease urban congestion and expand into new cities.
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3. Onetab.ai has secured undisclosed backing from Hyperscope Limited Fund and Elrise to supercharge its AI Agent for developers. Following its $3.3M seed round, the startup now gears up for global expansion and deeper innovation in the SDLC space.
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4. GVFL has led a ₹15 Cr pre-Series A round in DCGPAC, backing its B2B push into packaging and warehouse tech. With fresh capital, the Gurugram startup plans to scale globally and upgrade its procurement platform.
   Read more here