Pula - Afrikan Heroes

Three Kenyan Firms Listed Among 100 Top Tech Pioneers

May 15, 2022

Three Kenyan firms have been listed among the 100 global top tech pioneers in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Technology Pioneers 2022. They are Sendy, Access Afya and Pula Advisors.

Sendy is featured for its role in building fulfillment infrastructure for e-commerce and consumer brands while Access Afya has been recognised for offering high-quality healthcare for the global mass market

On the other side, Pula Advisors was recognised for its innovation and impact in using technology to provide agriculture insurance to millions of smallholder farmers in emerging markets.

Other African firms that are on the list of firms that have a significant impact on business and society include Rwanda’s Ampersand and Nigeria’s Okra.

“Farmers in emerging markets are the most hardworking citizens of the world yet the most likely to already feel the impact of climate change. They need products like agriculture insurance and digital agronomy advice to adapt to an increasingly unpredictable climate,” Pula CEO Thomas Njeru said.

Technology Pioneers are selected based on the WEF community’s selection criteria which consider innovation, leadership, and relevance to the global organisation’s platforms.

Pula, at the moment, has influence in 16 countries and has listed about 6 million smallholder farmers.

The selected firms will participate in WEF events to drive panel discussions on key industry and societal issues throughout the year.

“We are honoured to be recognised by the World Economic Forum as a technology pioneer. This recognition affirms our belief that the digital economy in Africa presents the biggest opportunity for young people to participate in the economy,” said Sendy founder and CEO Mesh Alloys.

Some of the companies that have been honoured by Technology Pioneer in the past include giant tech companies like Google, Airbnb, Mozilla, Spotify, Scribd, Kaggle, Kickstarter, Palantir Technologies, and Twitter.

Technology Pioneer was launched in 2000 for growing companies around the globe that are involved in the design and development of new technologies and innovations.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Kenyan Insurtech Startup Pula Secures $6M Series A Round For Further Expansion

January 25, 2021

A $6 million Series A investment has been completed by Pula, a Kenyan insurtech startup specializing in digital and agricultural insurance to derisk millions of smallholder farmers across Africa.

“When Thomas and I launched Pula in 2015, we had one goal in mind: to build and deliver scalable insurance solutions for Africa’s 700 million smallholder farmers,” Rose Goslinga co-founder, Pula said “With our latest funding, now is the time to break into new ground. In our five years since launching, we’ve built strong traction for our products. However, the fact remains that across Africa and other emerging markets, there are still millions of smallholder farmers with risks to their livelihoods that have not been covered.”

Here Is What You Need To Know

The round was led by TLcom Capital, an early-stage Pan-African venture capital company with participation from non-profit Women’s World Banking.
The increase comes after Pula closed Rocher Participations’ $1 million in seed investment in 2018 with funding from Accion Venture Lab, Omidyar Network, and several angel investors.
TLcom’s senior partner, Omobola Johnson, will join Pula’s board as part of the latest fundraiser.
With the new financing, Pula will scale up its operations in its current 13 markets across Africa, where over 4,3 million farmers have been insured. Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique are among them. The Kenyan startup also hopes to improve its expansion in Asia and Latin America for smallholder farmers.

Why The Investor Invested

Agriculture insurance is a big deal in Africa, where produce is ravaged by pests, diseases, harsh weather conditions, among others. Traditionally, agricultural insurance has focused on the farm sector. An average insurance premium is $1,000 in the U.S. or Europe, with usually large farms. But the number stands at an average of $4 in Africa, where smallholding or small-scale farming is the standard.

“The potential for the insurance market for smallholder farmers in Africa is huge, and under the leadership of Rose and Thomas, Pula has rapidly established a strong presence throughout the continent and has several high-profile clients on their books. We are confident of Pula’s potential for growth in spite of the pandemic and look forward to partnering with them as they execute the next phase of their journey,” Maurizio Caio, the managing partner of the TLcom partner said in a statement.

Also assisting the startup in its latest fundraise is the pedigree of its founders who have deep knowledge in agriculture. Gosingla once worked for Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA). While there, she launched Kilimo Salama, a micro-insurance program for more than 200,000 farmers in Kenya and Rwanda. Njeru who was the lead actuary at UAP Insurance, came into the picture as a partner to the Kilimo Salama program, at that time.

A Look At What The Startup Does

Founded by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru in 2015, Pula delivers agricultural insurance and digital products to help smallholder farmers navigate climate risks, improve their farming practices and bolster their incomes over time.

Among its current clientele are the likes of the World Food Programme and Central Bank of Nigeria as well as the Zambian and Kenyan governments, as well as social enterprises like One Acre Fund, startups like Apollo Agriculture, and agribusiness giants like Flour Mills and Export Trading Group.

The startup also maintains partnerships with banks, governments and agricultural input companies. In numbers, Pula’s insurance partners have reached 50 insurance, including six other reinsurance partners.

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

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