Kenya-Based Insurtech Startup Turaco Completes USD 1.2 Mn Seed Round

Kenya-based micro-insurtech startup, Turaco, has announced a successful seed capital raise of USD 1.2 Mn to further scale its operations across Africa.

Alongside several angel investors, GAN Ventures, Mercy Corps Ventures and Musha Ventures also contributed to this round. This follows USD 40 K received in grant funding late last year from Villgro Kenya and the venture-building support facilitated by inclusive fintech accelerator, Catalyst Fund. 

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.

The startup is focused on supporting emerging market consumers in their greatest times of need by providing useful insurance products designed to work for them. Turaco currently operates in Kenya and Uganda, with plans for continent-wide expansion in the near future.

To date, Turaco has insured more than 30,000 users in Kenya and Uganda by offering customer-focused medical cover for monthly premiums as low as USD 2.00.

Ted Pantone, co-founder and CEO of Turaco, says: “We built Turaco based on the belief that we are called to love all our neighbors as we love ourselves. At its core, our company exists to come alongside people in their greatest times of need.

“It is a perfect intersection between social impact and a commercially scalable opportunity. For this round, we were blessed to be able to choose from a group of investors with different specialties.

“These range from social impact and value alignment to industry understanding and connections in Silicon Valley. In our next round of funding, we are looking for additional value-aligned investors who have the capacity to support us in our vision to insure a billion people.”

The company was incepted to free customers from the fear of unexpected financial shocks that come with health calamities. Turaco achieves this by providing quick, simple and affordable insurance cover across sub-Saharan Africa, where uninsured low-income earners make up 90 percent of the total population.

Today, the team offers life and health insurance products distributed through partnerships. Their unique offering is 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. Turaco prides itself as a welcome solution for the healthcare insurance problem in Africa.

According to a press release, the funds received will be used to cement the company’s presence in new markets and further develop ongoing pilots and partnerships with businesses and fintech companies. The business anticipates continued rapid growth, with plans already in place to raise additional capital in 2020.