The $10 million Series A equity fundraising round for the Kenyan company Turaco, an insurtech platform pushing mass market insurance uptake, has closed. The funds will be used to accelerate its development through strategic alliances.
Turaco, which was established in 2019, acts as a distributor, broker, and crucial customer contact point between the underwriter and the final customer. With its B2B and B2B2C business models, it collaborates with some of the most reputable firms on the continent, including Sun King, One Acre Fund, Tugende, M-KOPA, and VisionFund, that have a substantial client base or workforce in emerging countries.
Over half a million people in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda have already been protected by the custom medical, life, asset, and car insurance packages that the insurtech has built and provided through its active partnerships.
AfricInvest, through the Cathay Africinvest Innovation Fund, and current investor Novastar Ventures took the lead in the US $10 million Series A investment. Enza Capital, Global Partnerships, Zephyr Acorn, Operator Stack, Asi Ventures Limited, and Push Ventures also participated in the round.
In Africa, there are more than 500 million cellphone customers, the majority of whom lack insurance. With the most recent round of finance, Turaco is well-positioned to take on this unexplored market and intensify its development ambitions through strategic alliances.
Turaco integrates its service as a white-labelled solution that is bundled with a partner’s main product or service and integrates with its current payment systems to collect premiums in order to reach underserved consumers and low-income earners. Turaco enables businesses to quickly incorporate insurance into their goods and services at no additional risk or expense thanks to a strong API interface that enables simple collaboration with its external partners.
The technology-enabled insurance platform has developed since its inception into a market leader at the forefront of cutting-edge insurance solutions. Its goods are reasonably priced at roughly $2 per month, come with clear terms and conditions, and include a fully digitalized claims procedure that enables claimants to file by WhatsApp or phone call and pays out via mobile money in less than three days.
“We are proud to help drive insurance adoption, especially among low-income earners. 90 per cent of our customers have never had insurance before, but the surprising thing is that people really want to buy insurance! They just don’t have easy access to products that really work for them. This investment enables us to scale our business to serve millions of insurance customers across our current markets and beyond. We are thrilled to have these great new investors join our team for this next season of growth,” said Turaco CEO and co-founder Ted Pantone.
Investment officer Patricia Rinke of AfricInvest stated that talks between her company and Pantone and his group had shown “a wonderful idea and faultless execution coming together”.
“The company’s innovative distribution model responds to the unmet demand in the African insurance sector, and we look forward to working with Turaco as they continue to build on their early success,” she said.
