Kenya’s insurtech Turaco raises $10m series A funding
Insurance technology company, Turaco has raised $10 million in series A funding. This was led by AfricInvest via its Cathay Africinvest Innovation Fund (CAIF) and second time investor, Novastar ventures. Others include Enza Capital, Global Partnerships, Zephyr Acorn, Operator Stack, Asi Ventures Limited and Push Ventures. This has brought its total funding to $13.3 milllion.
Across Africa, insurance is calculated to be less than 3%, however, through Turaco’s B2B2C model, it has been able to partner with companies such as M-KOPA and SafeBoda among others to insure their services and as well, its staffs – while it “design and distribute its insurance products as a white-labeled offering.” The customers buy life, asset, medical and vehicle insurance from as low as $0.2.
Founded in 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya by Ted Pantone and Peter Gross, the company has reached over 500, 000 customers. It has also been able to start operations in Nigeria and Uganda given its viable business model and its mission to tap from a mass market and 1 billion customers in Africa.
“We want to insure a billion people in the next 25 years and that’s what we’re building towards. It’s an audacious goal in every way and I can’t even really describe how to get there, but I have a clear vision of insuring 100 million people. Getting to that next stage of growth means working with some of the largest brands in the world. We have the right mix of talent, ambition, technology and vision to get us there. But it’s a long road ahead of us for sure,” Turaco co-founder and CEO, Ted Pantone, told TechCrunch.
“As the insurance penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa remains below 3%, one of the lowest rates globally, we believe Turaco has developed the tools and know-how to fill this gap and reach low-income earners with products adapted to their needs, thus being a critical part of the push to help shield the most disadvantaged from unforeseen financial burdens and shocks,” AfricInvest and co-head of CAIF Partner Yassine Oussaifi, said in a statement.
The raise is expected to further the insurance of low-income earners in Africa especially that 90% of the company’s customers are otherwise not knowledgeable about insurance but are interested in the safety net.
“We are proud to help drive insurance adoption, especially among low-income earners. 90% 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,” Pantone said.
Also commenting on the raise, Investment Director at Novastar Ventures, Olúwatóyìn Emmanuel-Olubake said, “Turaco has grown over 300% since Novastar’s initial investment in 2020. We are excited to continue partnering with the exceptional team at Turaco and welcome new investors including AfricInvest, Global Partnerships and Enza Capital to this journey. This capital will help the company to further grow its world-class team, develop new products, accelerate partnerships and access new markets in service of its goal to mitigate the impact of daily shocks for millions of vulnerable people across Africa.”
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