Investors from the United States are increasing their footprints in Africa. SixThirty, a US-based tech venture capital fund has made a big bet on South Africa’s InsurTech company Click2Sure. In a statement, SixThirty said it has made a multi-million rand investment in Cape Town-based Click2Sure, marking the first time the VC would be investing in any African startup.
“Another reason we are thrilled to have SixThirty on board is their Go-To-Market Summer programme, where we were introduced to key individuals, executives and other founders well placed in the US market within blue-chip companies, to help us get a foot in the door, and mentor us on what the US market and stakeholders expect to see from a startup and technology partner,” says Guasco.
Here Is What You Need To Know
- With the investment, Click2Sure will further develop its product and ensure businesses offering insurance take advantage of the benefits of digitisation: omnichannel distribution, reduction in administration costs, and better decisions with real-time reporting and insights.
- With this investment, SixThirty joins Greenlight Reinsurance, another US-based investor, amongst other investors, as capital partners in Click2Sure.
- In 2018, Click2Sure secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Greenlight Re Innovations, part of the Nasdaq-listed Greenlight Capital Re.
Why The Investor Invested
SixThirty’s investment in Click2Sure was motivated by a recognition of the surprisingly low penetration of digital distribution in the insurance industry. Along with the forced digitalisation ushered in by COVID-19, SixThirty found Click2Sure’s exclusive focus as an enabler of digital distribution a key differentiator that can help it scale into new sectors and markets.
SixThirty is a venture capital fund and a business development accelerator program that focuses on financial-based technology, InsurTech, and Cybersecurity solutions.
It invests in early-stage enterprise technology companies building.
Read also: Catalyst Fund Launches A New $4.3m Accelerator Programme For Ecommerce Startups In Ghana
A Look At What InsurTech Does
Co-founded Click2Sure in 2016 by Daniel Guasco, Jacques van Niekerk, Click2Sure lets customers buy insurance through any digital channel, depending on their preferences. These could be web/mobi channels, WhatsApp, SMS, eCommerce, and QR Codes. This satisfies the modern customer’s need for accessibility, convenience and speed as insurance companies can provide almost immediate coverage via a mobile app for example.
“Click2Sure doesn’t sell insurance. We provide our clients who sell insurance with a comprehensive cloud-based, digital platform for the distribution, management and purchasing of insurance at the point of sale,” explains Guasco.
Digitisation replaces the time-consuming manual process of filling in multiple page policy documents. It also means insurers can get new products to market much faster and diversify their revenue streams.
Guasco, who was previously CEO of Groupon South Africa and the founding director of online group buying website Twangoo, says: “Digitisation has many benefits for consumers; being able to use digital channels increases accessibility for the under- and uninsured, enables customisation of insurance cover, and assists customers in getting the most affordable insurance cover.”
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