Bai Ge Online Files Again with HKEX: Revenue Doubles, Net Loss Continues to Widen

Recently, Pigeon Online (Xiamen) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Pigeon Online”) once again submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Limited, planning to list on the Main Board of HKEX. As an insurtech company focused on scenario-based insurance, Pigeon Online has achieved rapid revenue growth over the past three years, but its net losses have also continued to expand during the same period. Meanwhile, the company and its subsidiaries have been subject to multiple administrative penalties by regulatory authorities during operations.

Against the backdrop of increasingly strict regulation of the insurance intermediary industry, balancing scale expansion with profitability, business innovation with compliance has become a core test on the company’s path to going public. In response to key issues such as market expectations for breakeven, customer concentration risk, business structure stability, and long-term compliance assurance, Pigeon Online told reporters from South Metropolis·Bay Finance Society that the company is still in the early stages of long-term business development, and the widening losses mainly stem from continuous increases in R&D, marketing, and talent investments; customer concentration aligns with industry characteristics, and the company has optimized its structure through expanding diversified partnerships; changes in business revenue are due to proactive strategic adjustments, reallocating resources toward high-value ecosystems.

From Insurance Brokerage License to Leading Scenario-Based Insurance Provider

Public information shows that Pigeon Online was established in April 2015. The company mainly provides insurtech-enabled insurance intermediary services for scenario partners and insurance companies. Since its founding, it has completed five rounds of financing. Regarding its equity structure, founder Tu Jinbo holds approximately 55.58% of voting rights through Fujian Helihui Hemei and Pigeon Tongchuang; New Hope holds 13.87%, making it the second-largest shareholder.

After years of technological R&D, the company officially launched its proprietary full-process SaaS application system “Pigeon eBao” in 2021, covering functions such as intelligent underwriting, policy management, claims processing, and data analysis. In the same year, the company completed Series A financing, attracting investments from New Hope Investment Group and other institutions.

With deep cultivation in the scenario insurance field, Pigeon Online has accumulated a considerable business scale. According to the prospectus, by the end of 2025, Pigeon Online had established cooperation with 79 property insurance companies, developed over 80 scenarios, served over 393 million insured individuals, and sold more than 9 billion policies. Zhaoshi Consulting reports that, based on total premiums in 2024, Pigeon Online ranks 11th among internet insurance intermediaries in China, 5th in the scenario insurance segment, and first among third-party scenario internet insurance intermediaries, with a market share of 3.4%.

Revenue Grows for Three Consecutive Years, but Net Loss Continues to Widen

In terms of performance, Pigeon Online has achieved three consecutive years of revenue growth, but the issue of increasing losses remains prominent. The company’s income mainly comes from three segments: insurance transaction services, targeted marketing and digital solutions, and third-party administration (TPA) services, with insurance transaction services being the core revenue source.

Financial data shows that in 2023, the company’s total revenue was 660 million yuan, rising to 914 million yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 38.5%; in 2025, revenue further increased to 1.23B yuan, a 34.2% rise. In stark contrast, net losses have continued to expand, with a net loss of 17.18 million yuan in 2023, increasing to 27.71 million yuan in 2024, and further to 46.67 million yuan in 2025.

Regarding the reasons for losses, Pigeon Online explained in the prospectus that the company is still in the business ramp-up stage, has not yet fully achieved economies of scale, and is continuously increasing R&D investments to promote technological development. When responding to reporters from South Metropolis·Bay Finance Society, the company further stated that it is still in the early stages of long-term business development, and insurtech companies typically require a longer cycle to realize positive operating cash flow and profitability, which aligns with industry characteristics.

Meanwhile, Pigeon Online emphasizes that it continues to increase investments in technology R&D, market expansion, and talent incentives. R&D expenses rose from about 15.66 million yuan in 2023 to about 35.10 million yuan in 2025; sales and distribution, administrative, and equity-based compensation expenses also increased accordingly. These investments lay the technological foundation and market layout for the company’s long-term development.

Notably, excluding the impact of share-based payments, listing expenses, and convertible share liabilities, the company’s adjusted net losses show a pattern of narrowing first and then slightly widening, with adjusted net losses of 13.46 million yuan, 7 million yuan, and 9.32 million yuan in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.

Business Structure Adjustment and Ecosystem Differentiation

Behind the revenue growth is the ongoing adjustment of Pigeon Online’s business structure and ecosystem layout, with each segment showing distinct development characteristics.

In terms of business segment proportions, core insurance transaction service revenue increased to 90.3% in 2024 but fell back to 66.9% in 2025; revenue from targeted marketing and digital solutions surged from 9.4% in 2024 to 32.5% in 2025, becoming the second-largest revenue source; TPA service revenue remained low at around 1%, with 1.3%, 0.3%, and 0.6% in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.

In the layout of nine major business ecosystems such as mobility, general human resources, and inclusive finance, the commission income adjustments are more pronounced. The inclusive finance ecosystem’s commission income increased from 142 million yuan in 2023 to 335 million yuan in 2024, then fell back to 185 million yuan in 2025; the auto service ecosystem’s commission income also declined during the same period. The company stated this was due to strategic adjustments, reallocating resources from low-profit projects to other ecosystems, reducing the scale of auto services, and shifting toward higher-value projects. The public service ecosystem, however, achieved steady growth, with commission income rising from 98.89 million yuan in 2023 to 281 million yuan in 2025, becoming an important growth driver.

Regarding revenue changes across ecosystems, Pigeon Online explained to the reporter that this mainly reflects proactive strategic adjustments in product mix and resource allocation. The decline in inclusive finance ecosystem commissions is a strategic choice based on profit prioritization, reallocating resources from some low-profit projects to others. Meanwhile, the significant growth in public service ecosystem commissions demonstrates the effectiveness of this adjustment, showing the company’s ability to dynamically optimize resource allocation across ecosystems.

Impact of External Cooperation Changes, Customer Concentration Declines

In terms of customer structure, Pigeon Online’s revenue concentration was previously high, posing potential operational risks. The prospectus shows that in 2023, 2024, and 2025, revenue from the top five customers accounted for 69.0%, 77.2%, and 55.9%, respectively, with the largest single customer contributing 38.3% in 2024, indicating high dependence on a few major clients.

From 2024 to 2025, the proportion of revenue from the top five customers declined, but this was not due to proactive diversification, rather due to external cooperation changes. It is reported that, because travel ecosystem partners adopted a multi-supplier policy, some policies were redistributed to other insurance intermediaries, leading to a reduction in policies obtained from that partner and thus lowering overall customer concentration. This variable in cooperation has also raised concerns about the stability of business partnerships.

Regarding customer concentration, Pigeon Online responded that this situation is closely related to the industry characteristics of China’s insurance market. The Chinese insurance market is highly concentrated, with the top ten insurers holding over 60% of the market share in 2023. Therefore, some degree of customer concentration among insurance intermediaries is common industry practice. The company maintains long-term stable cooperation with multiple major clients, some for over seven years. It provides not only standardized intermediary services but also deep collaboration in risk identification, product design, and full-process digital solutions, which helps enhance customer stickiness. The company has also taken measures to optimize customer structure, including expanding cooperation with mid-sized and emerging insurers, enriching digital insurance service offerings, and exploring new scenarios and regional markets.

Regarding the change in policy policies for some policies in the mobility ecosystem, the company further explained that the prospectus clearly states this was a “one-time event,” and other scenario partners did not adopt similar policies. Moreover, the gross profit contribution of this scenario accounts for only about 1.0% or less of the gross profit during the historical period, having no significant adverse effect on the company’s overall financial performance.

Four Regulatory Penalties, Multiple Measures for Compliance Rectification

Compliance issues are another major challenge for Pigeon Online’s IPO. The prospectus discloses that from 2023 to February 2026, Pigeon Online and its subsidiaries received four administrative penalties from the local regulatory bureaus of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (formerly China Banking Regulatory Commission), totaling about 770k yuan in fines. Violations involved business file management, financial bookkeeping, account compliance, bidding operations, and other aspects.

Specifically, in May 2023, Pigeon Bao Chongqing branch was fined 320k yuan for improper preservation of business files and allowing third-party sales personnel to conduct insurance-related activities. In December 2023, Pigeon Bao Jilin branch was fined 20k yuan and warned for errors in expense records, non-compliant commission accounts, and failure to disclose office location changes; it was also ordered to suspend new business for three months. In February 2024, Pigeon Bao Guizhou branch was fined 350k yuan for misrecording expenses paid to individual insurance brokers as promotional service fees instead of commissions. In February 2026, Pigeon Bao Chongqing branch was fined 80k yuan again for employee misconduct in insurance bidding cases.

In response to these violations, Pigeon Online stated in the prospectus that it has taken multiple rectification measures, including dismissing responsible personnel, strengthening business review, standardizing financial procedures, and conducting compliance training. It also hired internal control consultants to evaluate and improve risk management and internal control systems.

In an interview with South Metropolis·Bay Finance Society, the company added that it has established a special working group, formulated rectification plans, organized comprehensive compliance training, revised internal financial management systems, improved operational procedures, and disciplined responsible personnel. During the historical period and up to the last feasible date, no further major non-compliance events of similar nature occurred. Under stricter regulatory environments, the company continues to strengthen its compliance management system, including contract review, business file management, financial approval procedures, and regular compliance training and warnings. It has established a compliance supervision mechanism led by the risk management department covering all business processes and will adjust internal policies promptly according to legal and regulatory changes.

From “Intermediary” to “Technology-Enabled” Differentiation

The prospectus mentions in the “Risk Factors” section that the “de-intermediation” trend among insurance companies may weaken the company’s role as an intermediary. In response, Pigeon Online emphasized that as an insurtech company, it not only performs intermediary functions but also deeply participates in insurance product design, development, and full-process digital services. By collaborating with insurance companies to tailor insurance products for specific scenarios and providing integrated solutions covering smart underwriting, policy management, claims, and data analysis, the company’s ability to embed deeply into product design and operations is difficult for pure channel intermediaries to replace.

Furthermore, Pigeon Online pointed out that compared to other tech-enabled insurance intermediaries, its differentiating advantages are reflected in several aspects. Based on total premiums in 2024, it ranks first among third-party scenario internet insurance intermediaries in China, with a market share of 3.4%. Its technical and operational indicators in scenario insurance are significantly higher than those of other third-party scenario insurance intermediaries, demonstrating strong competitiveness and technological strength in digital insurance services. Additionally, its proprietary full-process SaaS system “Pigeon eBao” and ongoing MaaS support model form core technological barriers.

Overall, this renewed listing attempt on HKEX is a significant move for Pigeon Online to break through development bottlenecks. The prospectus states that the IPO funds will be used for R&D investment, acquisitions, expanding sales networks, building R&D centers, and supplementing working capital. If successful, the company will gain capital support to expand business scale and optimize profitability. However, to achieve sustainable development, the company still faces two major challenges: first, leveraging scale effects to reduce unit costs and reverse continuous losses; second, strengthening compliance management to meet increasingly strict regulatory requirements and eliminate potential compliance risks. Whether Pigeon Online can successfully list on HKEX remains subject to regulatory review.

Reported by: South Metropolis·Bay Finance Society Reporter Luo Manyu