Turaco, leading Kenya’s insurtech provider, has secured the close of a $10 million Series A equity round led by AfricInvest -via the Cathay Africinvest Innovation Fund, and existing investor to drive mass market insurance adoption across Africa.
The round also included participation from Enza Capital, Global Partnerships, Zephyr Acorn, Operator Stack, Asi Ventures Limited, and Push Ventures.
“We are proud to help drive insurance adoption, especially among low-income earners,” said Ted Pantone, Turaco CEO and co-founder in a statement.
“Ninety percent of our customers have never had insurance before, but the surprising thing is that people really want to buy insurance,” he said.
“They just don’t have easy access to products that really work for them,” he added.
He noted that the investment will enable the business to scale to serve millions of insurance customers across our current markets and beyond.
Founded in 2019, Turaco is a distributor, broker, and key customer interface between the underwriter and the end consumer.
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The insurtech company’s mission is to free people from the fear of financial shocks caused by unexpected health risks.
Turaco is able to achieve this through a B2B and B2B2C business model, forming partnerships with top tech-enabled companies with a large pool of customers or staff in emerging markets, including some of the continent’s most trusted brands such as Sun King, One Acre Fund, Tugende, M-KOPA and VisionFund.
Through its active partnerships, the insurtech has designed and delivered a suite of bespoke medical, life, asset, and vehicle insurance packages that have already covered over half a million lives across Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda.
Speaking also, Patricia Rinke, investment officer at AfricInvest said, “In our interactions with Ted and his team, we could see a great vision and flawless 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.”
In Africa, 90percent of people have no formal safety net to catch them if they get sick or are in an accident.
Insurance is still very much in its infancy. Most African insurance underwriters and intermediaries use rigid systems that do not allow for integration with external partners, with many still using paper-based processes.
Turaco is building in a largely untapped sector, opening up an extremely large market and innovating for mass market consumers by providing a cutting-edge solution that will drive inclusive insurance.
Targeted at underserved customers and low-income earners, Turaco embeds its service as a white-labeled offering that is bundled with a partner’s core product or service while integrating with their existing payment processes to collect premiums.
With a robust API integration which allows for easy collaboration with its external partners, Turaco enables companies to integrate insurance into their products and services efficiently and at no additional risk or cost.
Since launch, the technology-enabled insurance platform has grown to become a market leader at the forefront of innovative insurance solutions.
Turaco products are priced at $2 per month, with straightforward terms & conditions and a fully digitized claims process that allows claimants to file via WhatsApp or phone call, paying out in less than three days via mobile money.
Olúwatóyìn Emmanuel-Olubake, investment director at Novastar Ventures said “Turaco has grown over 300percent 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.”
There are over 500 million mobile subscribers in Africa, most of whom are uninsured. The latest round of funding places Turaco in a strong position to address this untapped market, doubling down its expansion efforts through strategic partnerships.
As a result, Turaco will continue to power innovation in inclusive insurance as well as stand firmly at the forefront of the continent’s rapidly growing insurance sector.
