Insurtech Startup Curacel raises $450,000 Pre-seed Funding from Atlantica Ventures and Consonance Capital
Lagos based Insuretech startup, Curacel has raised $450,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Atlantica Ventures and Consonance Capital with participation from Kepple Ventures and other African angel investors.
The startup which was founded by Henry Mascot and John Dada in 2017 uses its AI-powered platform for claims processing and fraud management in Africa. Curacel will use this new investment to accelerate the company’s expansion across Africa and facilitate the goal of becoming Africa’s premier provider of embedded finance technology for insurance.
The Insuretech platform already partners with some of the biggest insurance companies in Africa, including AXA Mansard, Liberty Health and Old Mutual, as well as more than 800 hospitals in Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda. The company hopes to expand to 10 new African countries by the end of 2021.
African insurers lose more than $12 billion to fraudulent, wasteful, and abusive claims every year What makes Curacel unique is that it hopes to solve problems that have to do with abusive and fraudulent claims.. Curacel’s flagship CLAIMS platform acts as a bridge between primary care hospitals and Africa’s insurance companies, using advanced artificial intelligence to ensure that insurance companies only pay claims for the correct treatment, appropriate medications and recommended patient therapies.
With this new investment, Curacel is also set to launch Curacel Capital, a cash advance product that makes it easier for healthcare providers to access working capital to mitigate financial challenges. Delayed payments and other inefficiencies in the payment process mean many African healthcare providers often have to make the difficult choice between keeping the books balanced or providing healthcare at a loss. With Curacel Capital, healthcare providers can access lump sums of up to three times their average monthly billings, based on claims processed on the Curacel portal, ensuring that they can continue to deliver essential services without undue disruption.
By leveraging Curacel’s products and services, insurers across the continent are better equipped to close the insurance gap and safeguard prosperity.
Henry Mascot while commenting on the funding round expressed joy in working with the new investors to push Curacel’s vision of improving insurance inclusion across Africa.
IK Kanu, Partner at Atlantica Ventures commented that, “the African insurance market represents a significant growth opportunity and we are delighted to be partnering with Curacel to drive growth in this sector. There is an opportunity to create an entirely new market of products and services here and we look forward to supporting the team to improve health outcomes across the continent.”
Africa has a largely communal setting, so health problems and emergencies usually impacts on entire communities, with people emptying their savings to pay for medical expenses, burials or other disaster relief for family members and kin. With insurance penetration at just 2.8% across the continent, many Africans are one accident or health emergency away from poverty.
With this new funding, Curacel is well positioned to expand its services and become a leading insurance platform in the continent.