Nigerian insurtech microinsurance platform, Casava, has raised a $4 million pre-seed round to enhance digital insurance in the country.
The fund represents the largest pre-seed for an African insurtech company and second-largest for a Nigerian startup after Nestcoin which recently secured $6.45 million pre-seed funding and will support customer acquisition and growth, as well as further development of the product and the technology stack.
The funding round was led by Berlin-based Target Global and also saw participation from foreign VCs and angel investors such as Entrée Capital, Oliver Jung, Tom Blomfield, Ed Robinson and Brandon Krieg participating.
Other local investors involved are Uche Pedro (Founder of BellaNaija), Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha (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.
What they are saying
Speaking on the low insurance adoption and what the startup is doing to raise the number, 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 1% of the country insured, Nigeria (with Africa) is an untapped insurance market. We want to address the barriers that hinder adoption and add value to consumers across the country.”
Dr Ricardo Schäfer, a partner at Target Global commended Bode and his team for recognizing an opportunity to address long-standing problems for many Nigerians and Africans and we are excited to support their mission to make insurance more accessible noting that Casava has the potential to transform the lives and livelihood of millions of people.
Avi Eyal, General Partner at Entrée Capital said, “The Casava team has developed a unique and disruptive product that we believe has the potential to transform Africa’s insurance market.
What you should know
While the company says it already has more than 66,000 customers, with $16 million in insurance coverage, Casava works with reinsurance partners who guarantee a refund when claims are paid as a licensed microinsurance underwriter. In addition, the company generate funds from off subscription fees.
The insurtech is led by Bode Pedro, a veteran entrepreneur that has built many successful companies – including Veda Technology, one of Nigeria’s premier computer hardware manufacturers – leveraging artificial intelligence and behavioural science to deliver changing claims and benefits products starting with income protection and health insurance.