In March 2026, Pigeon Online submitted its third updated listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and passed the listing hearing, standing just one step away from its market debut. The company, which claims to be the "leading third-party scenario-based internet insurance intermediary in China," is pitching a story to the capital markets centered on scenario-based insurance, technology enablement, and digital transformation.
However, the other side of the story is less impressive. Over three years, the company's revenue grew from RMB 660 million to RMB 1.227 billion, a cumulative increase of 86%, yet its net loss widened from RMB 17.18 million to RMB 46.67 million, nearly tripling in size.
At the same time, several of its branches have been penalized by regulators for violations such as fabricating expenses and failing to use bank accounts in accordance with regulations. Internal control weaknesses and persistent losses have become unavoidable challenges on its path to an IPO.
**Operating Across 80 Scenarios with 9 Billion Policies**
Pigeon Online's business model differs from that of a traditional insurance intermediary. It does not deal in standardized life or auto insurance but instead focuses on "scenario-based insurance" embedded into daily life activities. For example, purchasing accident insurance on a travel platform, opting for food safety insurance with a food delivery order, or being offered flight delay insurance when buying a ticket – these small-value, high-frequency, short-term insurance products represent Pigeon Online's core market.
The company positions itself as a digital risk management solutions provider, acting as a "digital connector" between insurance companies and various life scenarios. By the end of 2025, Pigeon Online had developed 80 specific scenarios, cumulatively selling over 9 billion policies and covering approximately 393 million insured individuals. Its ecosystem spans across "9+N" sectors including travel, inclusive finance, public utilities, healthcare and wellness, logistics, and automotive services, collaborating with over 70 insurance companies and 260 scenario partners. New Hope, as a strategic investor, holds a 13.87% stake, making it the third-largest shareholder after the controlling shareholder team.
Analyzing the revenue structure reveals a quiet transformation underway. Revenue from traditional insurance transaction services grew from RMB 536 million in 2023 to RMB 821 million in 2025, but its share of total revenue declined from 81.2% to 66.9%. Replacing this is revenue from precision marketing and digital solutions, which surged 244% from RMB 116 million to RMB 398 million, increasing its share from 17.5% to 32.5%. This indicates the company is transitioning from simply "selling policies" to "selling technology" – providing digital capabilities like risk identification, dynamic pricing, and intelligent recommendation to insurance companies and earning project service fees.
On the technological foundation, Pigeon Online has built the "Pigeon e-Insurance" SaaS system and six MaaS models, covering areas such as risk warning, image recognition, and intelligent recommendation. The company claims capabilities of processing 100,000 orders per second and 50 million policy transactions daily. The timeline from new project approval to first policy issuance has been reduced from 33.1 days to 13.8 days. Claim response time has been shortened from the traditional 1-3 days to under 3 minutes. R&D investment also increased from RMB 15.7 million in 2023 to RMB 35.1 million in 2025, with approximately one-third of employees working in R&D.
The most recent funding round occurred in January 2025, valuing the company at approximately RMB 2.029 billion. Whether this technology narrative can support such a valuation remains to be tested by the market. Compared to listed peers in the insurtech sector, Pigeon Online's gross margin of 8.4% is notably low – peers like SHOUHUI GROUP and others reported gross margins exceeding 35% in the first half of 2025. The premium expected from being technology-driven is not yet clearly reflected in its financial data.
**Sub-9% Gross Margin and Cash Flow Pressure**
Pigeon Online's revenue trajectory over the past three years has been upward: RMB 660 million in 2023, RMB 914 million in 2024, and RMB 1.227 billion in 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 34.2%. However, starkly contrasting this revenue growth is the continuous deterioration of net profit. The net loss was RMB 17.18 million in 2023, widened to RMB 27.71 million in 2024, and further expanded to RMB 46.67 million in 2025, with the cumulative loss over three years growing by 172%.
The root cause of the widening losses lies in an excessively low and unstable gross margin. From 2023 to 2025, the company's gross margins were 7.9%, 9.1%, and 8.4% respectively. These figures are not only significantly lower than the industry average of over 30% but also showed a decline in 2025. For comparison, SHOUHUI GROUP, another insurtech firm also aiming for a Hong Kong listing, reported a gross margin exceeding 35% in the first half of 2025. The fundamental issue behind Pigeon Online's low gross margin is that its insurance transaction services remain essentially a commission-based intermediary business with limited pricing power. Although the precision marketing and digital solutions segment is growing rapidly, it has not yet achieved the scale necessary to lift the overall gross margin level.
More notably, while losses were widening, the company's operating cash flow only barely turned positive in 2025. There was a net cash outflow from operating activities of RMB 43.89 million in 2023, a net outflow of RMB 7.03 million in 2024, which turned into a net inflow of RMB 20.14 million in 2025. However, as of the end of 2025, the company held only RMB 94.03 million in cash and cash equivalents, while reporting a net debt position of RMB 47.83 million and net current liabilities of RMB 50.06 million, indicating ongoing short-term funding pressure. Trade receivables amounted to RMB 95.50 million, with an average turnover period of 28.8 days, tying up significant working capital.
The prospectus discloses that Pigeon Online's reliance on major customers is deepening. From 2022 to 2024, the revenue contribution from the top five customers was 55.3%, 69.0%, and 77.2% respectively. This implies that revenue could face severe volatility if major partner insurance companies reduce commission rates or shift to their own direct channels. This risk is particularly pronounced given the industry trend of insurance companies actively pursuing "disintermediation."
**Repeated Penalties for Branches and Unresolved Internal Control Issues**
Compared to financial difficulties, compliance issues might pose a more challenging obstacle for Pigeon Online's IPO. According to public reports, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (including its predecessor, the CBIRC) has imposed cumulative fines of RMB 1.05 million on Pigeon Online's branches in locations such as Guizhou, Jilin, Fujian, and Chongqing in recent years. Violations included fabricating expenses, failing to use bank accounts as required, and not disclosing changes to business premises in a timely manner. Among these, the Guizhou branch was fined RMB 350,000, and the Jilin branch was ordered to cease accepting new business for three months.
These penalties point to systemic weaknesses in the company's internal controls. Fabricating expenses often indicates unreliable financial data, while improper use of bank accounts can suggest disorganized fund management. For a company whose core narrative revolves around "technology-enabled risk management," failing to effectively manage its own compliance risks undoubtedly weakens investor confidence in its technological capabilities.
Furthermore, the industry's regulatory environment is tightening significantly. In 2025, the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice strengthening the supervision of internet property insurance business, explicitly prohibiting insurance companies from using internet channels to circumvent local regulatory requirements and mandating the establishment of full-process service systems to protect consumers' right to information and autonomous choice. Simultaneously, regulators have been continuously weeding out non-compliant intermediaries – from 2024 to 2025, nationwide enforcement actions led to the revocation of licenses for 3 insurance intermediary groups, 57 professional insurance intermediary legal entities, and the removal of 3,730 branches of professional insurance intermediaries. In such an environment, any compliance shortcomings at Pigeon Online could be magnified.
Data security presents another latent concern. The company holds personal information and policy data for over 393 million insured individuals. Under the dual regulatory framework of the Personal Information Protection Law and the Data Security Law, the compliance requirements for data collection, storage, and usage are extremely high. Although the prospectus mentions the establishment of a data security management system, it does not disclose whether the company has undergone specific related inspections or experienced any data breach incidents.
For Pigeon Online, poised to list in Hong Kong, the IPO is merely a starting point. How to stem the losses, improve the gross margin, reduce customer concentration, and enhance the internal control system are four core questions it must answer. The capital market's expectations for the "first scenario-based insurance stock" extend far beyond just a compelling technology story.
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