Kenya-based startup Lami Technologies has raised $3.7 million in a seed extension to expand its insurtech product across Africa.
The extension was led by Harlem Capital, an early-stage venture firm that invests in seed-stage tech-enabled startups, focused on minority and women founders.
Participating in the round were early-stage venture capital firm, Newtown Partners; Peter Bruce-Clark, a partner at New York’s research-driven venture capital company Social Impact Capital; Caribou Honig and Jay Weintraub of InsureTech Connect, a networking platform for insurtech innovators, and senior members from Exotix Advisory, a corporate finance and M&A boutique focused on emerging and developing markets.
Lami founder and CEO Jihan Abass says the additional funding will be used for business development, product and technology development, and expansion to other countries including Egypt, Nigeria, and Uganda.
“Lami is pioneering innovation in the insurance sector, and we are glad to have secured the right partners to help drive insurance uptake across Africa. We are looking to make insurance easily accessible to everyone on the continent, and we will continually be unveiling more products that confirm this resolve,” she said.
Harlem Capital said they were drawn to Lami by its diverse market scope and strategic approach to growth.
“We believe the next wave of fintech will embed financial products and services like insurance into a customer’s purchase experience. Lami’s approach to serving people through strategic partners in ecommerce and finance is the best way to build trust with users and deliver insurance in a seamless, accessible way to Africans across the continent.
Lami’s impressive growth to date shows that this resonates with customers and have a strong trajectory as they expand across the continent,” said Harlem Capital Principal Gabby Cazeau.
“There are numerous societal vulnerabilities around the globe that will only be addressed by innovative, and technology-led solutions within this century.
Lami technologies was founded in 2018 to address the problem of low insurance uptake in Africa, which is driven by the slow pace of innovation in the sector, leaving the continent to contend with the sluggish and traditional paper-based systems.
Lami seeks to bridge the gap through technologies that make insurance affordable through ‘bite-sized’ premiums.
Lami technologies has also been working with underwriters in different markets to create an all-risk cover for buy now pay later (BNPL) transactions.
The cover, which was necessitated by the rising popularity of BNPL products in sub-Saharan Africa, insures against payment default through death, disability, job loss, and many other circumstances.
Source: Tech Build Africa
