Lami, Kenya’s insurance technology company, has acquired Bluewave Insurance Agency, another Kenyan startup that leverages mobile technology to reach the underserved population by tapping into the gap present in the African insurance industry.
The acquisition will expectedly set a path for growth for the insurtech as it expands its presence to new African markets beyond Kenya to Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Gambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Bluewave already has operations.
The development will see Adelaide Odhiambo, CEO of Bluewave, join the team of Jihan Abass, CEO of Lami as Director of Commercial Partnerships to become stronger as they forge ahead in their mission towards democratizing insurance products and services for low-income.
What they are saying about the acquisition
Jihan Abass, Lami Technologies founder and CEO expressed delight to be working with a like-minded entity. She said, “One of the things that really made us excited about this opportunity was the fact that we are working towards a very common vision of democratizing access to insurance. Our visions were very much aligned.
“The Bluewave team had created modules (like USSD-based micro insurance products), which we felt could particularly enhance our B2B2C offerings. They’ve done quite a lot of work around claims modules for micro insurance products. All these different things can be integrated into the core Lami platform. We can also continue to build on top of it, and also use parts of our technology to enhance offerings, like our advanced pricing modules, to make that experience much better.”
While Lami is currently in other markets like Uganda and Tanzania through partnerships, the platform said the new acquisition will enable it enter Nigeria and a number of countries in North Africa this year.
She said, “We’re looking at additional markets this year. That’s our core focus and why this acquisition was super-exciting; it gives us the upper hand as we continue to expand.”
Projecting on what is to be expected within the insurance space, Abbas said that the insurance sector will be faced with constant disruption geared towards more personalized products as technology continues to inspire new products and processes.
“You’re going to see a lot more data driven pricing that takes into account the risks involved and I think that’s going to really help make products more affordable, because there’ll be more customized products. I think we’re also going to see a lot more use of AI, particularly around claims processing and also for pricing,” she said.
What you should know
Lami was founded in 2018 and raised $1.8 million last year in seed money to scale affordable insurance products to the average African consumer while Bluewave was founded in 2016 by Adelaide Odhiambo and uses mobile technology to tap into the masses.
