Kenyan insurtech startup secures $6-million 

Pula a Nairobi-based insurtech startup has secured $6-million in a Series A funding round led by  TLcom Capital, with the participation of Women’s World Banking.

Pula secures $6-million in a Series A funding

According to a press statement, the funding will be utilised to scale up the startup’s operations across 13 markets in Africa. In addition, the funding will assist the startup in expanding into Asia. 

Rose Goslinga, co-founder and Co-CEO at Pula comments on the funds raised. 

“When Thomas and I launched Pula in 2015, we had one goal in mind – to build and deliver scalable insurance solutions for Africa’s 700mn smallholder farmers and 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 but 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.”

Pula

Founded in 2015, Pula is a mircoinsurer for smallholder farmers as it specialises in digital and agricultural insurance to help derisk millions of smallholder farmers across the African continent. 

Established by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru, Pula has created digital products and agricultural insurance that assist farmers to improve their farming practises, increase their income, and in case of climate risks and changes. 

Creating an affordable insurance solution for smallholder farmers in Africa, Pula moves away from the traditional and often costly method of financial protection. 

Offering the  Area Yield Index Insurance product, Pula is able to leverage machine learning, crop cuts experiments, and data points that relate to weather patterns and farmers’ losses. This in turn can create tailor-made products relating to the specific farmer and takes into accounts a variety of risks such as drought, pests, diseases, and flooding. 

Benefiting the agricultural sector 

The insurtech startup has reportedly assisted over 4.3-million smallholder farmers in Africa. 

Goslinga reiterates the importance of providing its innovative service to smallholder farmers given the impact of Covid-19 and constant changes in climate change. 

“In the midst of a global pandemic, farmers need assurances now more than ever and with this in mind, it’s time to scale up. Having TLcom Capital and Women’s World Banking along on the journey with us, opens up many more opportunities as we build across the continent and beyond.” 

As an award-winning startup, being named the “InsurTech of the Year” at the African Insurance Awards 2020, Pula is on the rise to stardom as it aims to use the funding to elevate its existing presence and grow the innovative startup. 

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Featured image: Pula, Supplied