Renew Capital, an Africa-focused impact investment firm, recently unveiled its participation as angel investors in Jamii.one, a pioneering micro-insurance startup dedicated to enhancing financial well-being in Ethiopia. Jamii.one is on a mission to transform Ethiopia’s financial landscape using a digital platform driven by community data.
The specific investment amount was not disclosed in the announcement. However, the collaboration between Renew Capital and Jamii.one is geared towards advancing financial inclusion throughout Ethiopia.
The genesis of Jamii.one dates back to 2018 when it was co-founded by a trio of visionary individuals, namely Charlotte Rønje (CEO), Daniel Brøndum Torp (CTO), and Tigist Bezu (COO). Jamii.one’s innovative approach hinges on its partnership with self-organized Ethiopian community groups known as “Idirs.” These community entities come together to pool monthly contributions, creating an informal cooperative-like insurance system that covers expenses related to funerals and other significant life events.
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Jamii.one has harnessed the power of digitization to transform these financial contributions into a bridge, connecting unbanked communities with the formal banking sector. Tigist Bezu, co-founder and COO of Jamii.one, enthused about this unique synergy, saying, “When we entered the market, it didn’t take us long to introduce the Idir community to Jamii.one. After tailoring our product for Idir and enabling access to affordable group micro-life insurance, it was amazing to see the synergy of technology and community power.”
The Jamii.one mobile application has been thoughtfully designed to cater to individuals with low literacy levels. It boasts offline functionality and accommodates limited smartphone capabilities, making it accessible to a wider segment of the population.
Jamii.one’s revenue model is built on partnerships with insurance companies, allowing them to offer tailor-made insurance products to their users. As of now, Jamii.one has successfully onboarded 400,000 users onto its platform, with over 50,000 users benefiting from their insurance coverage.
This investment by Renew Capital in Jamii.one marks another significant milestone for the microinsurance startup, following a string of successful capital raises in 2023. In June, Jamii.one accomplished an impressive feat by raising $840,000 via Seedrs, a prominent UK-based online equity crowdfunding platform for startups. This achievement exceeded their initial fundraising goal by an astounding 295%. Moreover, in May 2023, Jamii.one secured a generous €150,000 grant from the Swiss Capacity Building Facility (SCBF).
Jamii.one has set its sights on an ambitious goal of reaching 2.3 million users and expanding its product portfolio, with a particular emphasis on offering health insurance products to the masses.
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Renew Capital, an advocate for innovative companies with exponential growth potential, maintains a notable presence across multiple African nations, including Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. The firm manages investments on behalf of the esteemed Renew Capital Angels, contributing to the continued growth and success of ventures like Jamii.one.
Jami.one Insurance Jami.one Insurance
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard