The top provider of insurance infrastructure in Africa, Curacel, has raised $3 million in seed money to launch innovative technological solutions that will power the continent’s next-generation insurance experiences. The company’s expansion into North Africa will also be assisted by the new finance.

Tencent, AAF Management, Elefund, Blue Point Capital Partners, Pioneer Fund, Olive Tree Capital, Y Combinator, James Park, CEO of Fitbit, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave, Babs Ogundeyi, CEO of Kuda, and other strategic investors were all part of the seed funding round. Elefund also invested in Sure and Flutterwave. As part of the financing, senior executives from Covergenius, Zopper, and Pie Insurance will also join Curacel’s advisory board.

“We are bullish on the potential of the right technology in the right places to close the protection gap across Africa and emerging markets. It is an exciting time for us as we secure the capital to deliver the vision and onboard the people who have built these technologies at scale in more mature markets, and we are looking forward to delivering more technology solutions to drive up insurance inclusion,” Henry Mascot, CEO and co-founder of Curacel, said. 

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The new capital will allow the business to expand its services across North Africa, beginning in Egypt and Morocco, and further establish its footprint elsewhere on the continent.

Why The Investors Invested

Working with more than 20 insurers and more than 5,000 service providers in 8 different nations throughout the continent, Curacel has handled claims totaling more than $100 million. Curacel had a 600% rise in transaction volume and a 500% increase in revenue in 2022.

Omar Darwazah, Managing Director and General Partner at AAF Management, said “at less than 3%, the insurance penetration rate in Africa is one of the lowest in the world, presenting an incredible market opportunity for Henry and the team at Curacel to bridge that insurance gap. We are excited to participate in the company’s Seed round and join Curacel’s mission in building easy-to-use technology solutions for insurers to distribute their products on the continent.”

Serik Kaldykulov, General Partner at Elefund, said “Africa remains a relatively untapped market when it comes to insurance and technology presents the best opportunity to reach new users and deliver excellent services. Curacel has built a suite of solutions and an impressive track record of success that makes us very excited to be supporting them on their mission to use technology to drive up insurance inclusion in Africa.”

A Look At What The Startup Does

By providing them with simple-to-use technological solutions that have been especially created to increase insurance inclusion on the continent, Curacel makes it simpler for insurers to market their policies, simplify their claims processes, and drive revenue growth. With the help of Grow, Curacel’s embedded insurance product, more than 100 banks, fintechs, logistics providers, and other tech-enabled businesses, including ALAT (Nigeria’s first digital bank), Providus, PalmPay, Float, and others, are now able to boost their recurring revenues by providing digital insurance products that are seamlessly integrated into their current goods and services, fostering much-needed insurance penetration and client loyalty.

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Leading insurers including AXA Mansard, Liberty Health, Old Mutual, and Jubilee Health all use Curacel’s technology, which leads the market, to enhance the speed and accuracy of their claims processes. The company’s AI-powered infrastructure enables real-time claim submission and processing, allowing insurers to process up to 10 times more claims while cutting their claims cycle by more than 70%.

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