Goodwells Investments is fiercely spreading more of its tentacles across Africa and South Africa’s insurance technology startup Inclusivity Solutions hasn’t even been up to a year (July 2019) since it secured $1.56-million in its Series A round of funding. Announcing a new $1.3-million investment to conclude the second round of its Series-A round of funding, Inclusivity Solutions is pointing to a hopeful future for Africa’s insurance technology companies.
“As the humanitarian and economic disaster that is COVID-19 unfolds, we are reassured that there could not be a more important time for insurance solutions such as ours to play a role in protecting the vulnerable. This investment provides the endorsement and support that we need as an organization to continue our work in designing and scaling products that address the risks that really matter and can play a real role in adding value to consumers, as well as offering a digital-ready solution to insurers during operationally challenging times,” Founder and CEO, Inclusivity Solutions Jeremy Leach said.
Here Is What You Need To Know
- Following on from their first tranche investment, the uMunthu fund, managed by Goodwell Investments, led the round with follow-on investment from UW Ventures (in partnership with Allan Gray). MFS Africa, a leading Pan-African fintech company, joined the round as a new investor.
- This investment brings the startup’s total Series A round to US$2.6m, not a mathematical error at all when both figures from 2019 ($1.56m) and 2020 ($1.3m) Series A round are added up as Inclusivity Solution’s head of marketing Sharon Robinson had noted that the discrepancy had resulted as $200,000 from first round “was pushed to the second round”.
- The startup will use the investment to deepen the company’s footprint within its existing markets, support further international expansion as well as accelerate innovation in the backbone technology platform, ASPin, which underpins the three existing products.
- Inclusivity Solutions has already successfully launched digital insurance initiatives in Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda and Kenya, in partnership with Orange, Airtel and Equity Bank’s Equitel respectively.
- Collectively a range of hospital cash and simple life products have provided protection to more than 700,000 people, the company said in a statement.
Why The Investors Invested
Investment influenced by possible profitability from previous investments and fulfillment of a commitment clause to participate in future investments in the startup in order to further retain ownership stake in it.
Reaffirming this, Wim van der Beek, managing partner Goodwell Investments said:
“We are excited to lead this second tranche and make this additional investment from our uMunthu fund, especially in these challenging times. Our investment focus is inclusive growth, and we believe that collaborative insurtech solutions like Inclusivity Solutions are best positioned to reach large numbers of underserved consumers. Their model bridges the insurance protection gap for underserved through products that are designed to be simple, affordable and accessible, even on the most basic mobile phone. It is a perfect fit with our mandate, and we look forward to continue to support Inclusivity Solutions in its next stage of growth.”
Investment influenced by the COVID-19 as many more people scamper to access insurance policies in virus-hit South Africa.
To echo this point, Harry Apostoleris, Director at UW Ventures said:
“We could not think of a more relevant time for this additional support to Inclusivity Solutions to further their mission of designing innovative and inclusive financial products while developing insurance markets to protect and serve vulnerable communities across the developing world. We believe there is a huge opportunity to bring affordable health and life insurance to those communities that may be the most ill-equipped to deal with catastrophes such as COVID-19, and we are excited to partner with Jeremy Leach and his exceptional team to help achieve their ambitions.”
Investment influenced by founder’s long standing existing relationship with investors.
In this regard, Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS Africa said:
“I’ve known the Inclusivity team for many years, and as players in the fintech space ourselves, we have had the opportunity to collaborate with them on a few exciting opportunities. We share a passion for impact through technology, and a drive to innovate and implement. We at MFS Africa are very proud to be part of their next stage of growth.” Okoudjou added, “The investment was made through MFS Africa Frontiers, a vehicle dedicated to exploring Frontier opportunities in the greater fintech ecosystem. Through MFS Africa Frontiers, we invest in select ventures with whom we feel we can go further — and faster — together.”
Read also: Why More South African Startups Have Raised Funds This Year
A Look At What Startup Inclusivity Solutions Does
Founded in 2015 by CEO Jeremy Leach Inclusivity Solutions designs, builds and operates inclusive digital insurance solutions.
Consumers such as primary school teacher, Peter, are now benefiting from these products. Through Riziki Cover, for instance, a product designed and operated by Inclusivity Solutions and delivered through Equitel in Kenya, Peter was able to cover his bills after being hospitalized for five nights.
“Our obsession is to build products that directly meet the needs of consumers, consumers like Peter, and to make them simple to understand and easy to use. With insurance penetration at only 5.5 per cent of the adult population in Kenya, Peter would likely be without insurance today were it not for our innovative products. We are grateful and excited to have the support of these leading investors and partners who share our vision for a world with better protection,” Jeremy Leach said.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.