Nigeria-based InsurTech Casava has raised $4m in pre-seed funding on its mission to provide affordable income insurance.
According to a report from Disrupt Africa, the round was led by Target Global with participation from Entrée Capital, Oliver Jung, Monzo founder Tom Blomfield and Stash founders Ed Robinson and Brandon Krieg. African founders such as Uche Pedro (founder of BellaNaija), Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha (co-founders of Kuda), Shola Akinlade (co-founder of Paystack), Olugbenga “GB” Agboola (co-founder of Flutterwave), Honey Ogundeyi (founder of Edukoya), Opeyemi Awoyemi (co-founder of Jobberman), and others also participated in the round.
Casava, which is Nigeria’s first 100% digital insurance company, was founded on the premise that insurance is “broken and unprepared” for the challenges currently faced. With the impact Covid-19 had on the world of work, for example, Casava believes it to be critical to build a modern insurance structure.
With Casava’s income protection product, subscribers can insure their income with a subscription that starts from as little as $1 a month, and get paid monthly for six months if they lose their job, fall sick or become disabled. Subscribers can also add on Casava Health, which enables access to more than 1,000 doctors on telemedicine and 900 hospitals across Nigeria.
Since the launch of its income protection product in 2021, the company has more than 66,000 customers and $16m in insurance coverage.
The new capital will support customer acquisition and growth, as well as further development of the product and technology stack.
Casava said during its development, it was inundated by first-hand accounts of life events in which the potential for insurance to help people was significant. For example, the burden young adults endure to pay health expenses for themselves and family members, or the child whose parent wasn’t around to sponsor their education. However, the company believes that “good things do happen” with insurance cover.
Bode Pedro, founder and CEO of Casava, said, “Our mission is to provide affordable insurance for Nigerians and other Africans and we are happy to have raised these funds from an exciting group of investors… With less than one per cent of the country insured, Nigeria (and Africa) is an untapped insurance market. We want to address the barriers that hinder adoption and add value to consumers across the country.”
Copyright © 2022 FinTech Global
