Kenyan insurtech Bluewave takes top honours at 2018 Seedstars Nairobi

Nairobi-based insurtech startup Bluewave Insurance Agency has come out tops at Seedstars Nairobi pitch event.

At an event held on Friday (21 September), the startup out-pitched six other contestants to win the coveted title of Nairobi’s best startup of 2018 and for an opportunity to represent Kenya at Seedstar’s Worlds regional and global summits.

The insurtech startup was placed first ahead of salesforce automation platform Optimetriks and edtech company Angaza Elimu, which came in second and third, respectively.

Bluewave Insurance Agency uses a USSD platform to sign on clients — which enables the company to serve those with the simplest mobile devices.

The startup — which was founded in 2015 by CEO Adelaide Odhiambo — now stands to win up to $1-million in equity investments at the Seedstars Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland next year.

We did it! Bluewave is the Regional @Seedstars winner. Thank you to everyone at @thenailab our fellow entrepreneurs for the challenge. Looking forward to the next step in this great journey. 🎉🎉 pic.twitter.com/GSZa292ha3

— Bluewave (@Bluewave_ins) September 21, 2018

Bluewave Insurance Agency has a range of micro-insurance offerings aimed at low-income users in Kenya, that include motor, health and life cover. In June, the startup partnered with Jubilee Insurance for its fourth product, Imarisha Jamii, which covers hospital expenses, disability and death.

In addition, Bluewave has full API integration with Kenyan mobile network operator Safaricom with the startup’s Imarisha Jamii offering currently only available to subscribers of Safaricom’s M-pesa.

The startup uses a USSD platform to sign on clients — which enables the company to serve those with the simplest mobile devices.

The Seedstars World Africa tour moves to Mozambique next where the Seedstars Maputo pitch event is set to take place this Friday (28 September) in the Mozambican capital.

Read more: Here are the eight Kenyan startups selected to pitch at Seedstars Nairobi

Featured image: The team from Bluewave Insurance Agency at Seedstars Nairobi last Friday (21 September) (Bluewave via Twitter)