South Africa’s Insurtech Startup CompariSure Secures Investment From Local VC

CompariSure’s co-founder, Jonathan Elcock

South Africa-based insurtech startup CompariSure has announced today that it has secured venture capital (VC) funding from SA Umkhathi Wethu Ventures in partnership with Allan Gray. The deal comes off the back of CompariSure’s first external investment deal concluded in August last year with SA VC company 4Di Capital (which was not announced to the media at the time).

CompariSure’s co-founder, Jonathan Elcock
CompariSure’s co-founder, Jonathan Elcock

“This growth capital funding has given us significant runway and will allow us to explore new strategic initiatives, such as new product and industry use-cases for our chatbot, as well as opportunities outside of SA,” said co-founder Jonathan Elcock.

Did African startups raise $496M, $1B or $2B in 2019? | TechCrunch

Here Is What You Need To Know

  • The details of the latest investment, as well as that of the 4Di Capital investment, were not disclosed.
  • UW Ventures will support CompariSure with its scaling ambitions, including into international markets.
  • Edgar Loxton, a director at Allan Gray, and 4Di Capital partner Anton Van Vlaanderen will sit on the CompariSure board.
  • In a statement today, co-founder Matthew Kloos explained that at the time that the original deal was concluded in August last year, 4Di Capital was eager for the insurtech to find another institutional investor to diversify the shareholder base, which is how Umkhathi Wethu (UW) Ventures and Allan Gray came on board.

“In combining 4Di’s deep understanding of insurtech with Allan Gray’s extensive financial services expertise and Ventures’ strategic and business support, we feel our investor base could neither be stronger nor more experienced,” commented Kloos.

Read also: Why More South African Startups Have Raised Funds This Year

A Look At What Startup CompariSure Does

  • CompariSure was founded in 2017 by Jonathan Elcock (a former manager at insurance provider MiWay according to his LinkedIn profile. He was joined subsequently by co-founder Matthew Kloos.
  • The startup distributes financial services products via its proprietary chatbot technology that leverages platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
  • CompariSure said it had recently begun licensing out its chatbot technology to insurance providers looking to enhance their own digital capabilities.
  • The startup has worked with some of South Africa’s top insurance providers, including the likes of Sanlam, Old Mutual, and Momentum Metropolitan.
  • Elcock said in the same statement, that over 70% of the startup’s sales are concluded without any human engagement, at all hours of the day and night.
  • Without revealing the figures, he said the startup had seen “record volumes” through the challenging and unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
  • The startup however claims that over 250 000 South Africans from all walks of life have interacted with its chatbot via its online platform.

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.

South African e-health Startup Healthcent Raises Funding Round for Expansion

Healthcent

South African e-health startup Healthcent has secured funding from Umkhathi Wethu Ventures and Allan Gray in order to further roll out its products to medical practitioners.

Here Is The Deal

  • Founded three years ago and angel-funded until now, Healthcent is the company behind the mobile messaging system Signapps, which facilitates collaboration and rapid response to patient needs by medical providers.
  • A mobile-first, cloud-based messaging and collaboration platform, Signapps is already being used by 30 customers comprising public and private hospitals and hospital groups, practices, associations, and funders of care. There are over 2,000 users registered on the platform.
  • Healthcent has now raised an undisclosed round of funding from Umkhathi Wethu Ventures, in partnership with Allan Gray, to expand its reach into the wider South African healthcare sector and further develop the capabilities of the product.

“Collaborative healthcare delivery is a new buzzword internationally, and the investment by Umkhathi Wethu, together with Allan Gray, is a vote of confidence in our vision for Signapps and traction of the Signapps product in South Africa,” said Andrew Davies, chief executive officer (CEO) of Healthcent.

“Our purpose is to transform how patients are cared for in South Africa. Our objective with Signapps is to be the simplest, most effective, care coordination platform for people and organisations in the healthcare ecosystem, and to ensure that the patient remains firmly at the centre of the treatment universe.”

Rob Dower, director of Allan Gray, said his company’s internal ventures team was looking to fund the development of new businesses that can make a significant difference to society.

“Healthcent is the first company in South Africa to offer a secure mobile messaging application designed specifically for the healthcare sector. This allows medical professionals to avoid the inaccuracies, delays and risks of paper-based record systems, without resorting to social networks to coordinate care, which are inappropriate for many reasons,” he said.

 

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

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