Kenyan micro-insurtech startup Turaco has announced the close of a US$2 million seed funding round to further grow the business and scale its operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Founded in 2018, Turaco is an insurtech business that partners with local companies and mobile lending organisations to provide simple and affordable medical cover to underserved and unserved communities.
Currently operating in Kenya and Uganda, the startup offers life and health insurance products distributed through partnerships, with its offering based on a subscription model through which consumers can opt in for automated medical policy renewals bundled with their existing payments, like bank loans or ride-hailing services.
To date, Turaco has insured over 70,000 people and seen almost 2,000 claims paid in an average turnaround time of less than three working days, and it plans to scale this impact after securing US$2 million seed investment.
The round was led by Novastar Ventures, with participation from Mercy Corps Ventures, Musha Ventures, GAN Ventures and Zephyr Acorn, as well as some angel investors who were already invested in Turaco. The funding comes a year after the company’s last raise of US$1.2 million in seed capital.
Turaco will use the funding to drive growth in its current locations of Kenya and Uganda, and facilitate expansion into a third market next year. The financial support will also facilitate development of the next stage of Turaco’s proprietary technology and recruitment of key hires to position the business for continued growth in 2021.
“We are thrilled to partner with Novastar Ventures and all of our other great investors to help build Turaco to the next stage of growth. Our vision is to insure a billion people in the next 25 years. Investors like these will help propel us to that reality,” said Turaco co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Ted Pantone.
