Nigeria-based insurtech startup Curacel has secured around $450,000 in its pre-seed funding round, media reports said. The funding round was led by Atlantica Ventures and Consonance.
Curacel’s AI-powered platform looks to fast-track claims and process fraudulent defects for health insurance companies. According to media reports, the startup’s client list includes some of the biggest insurers such as Liberty Health, AXA Mansard, and Old Mutual. It also works with over 800 hospitals and across Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria with the intention to expand to a further 10 countries by 2021.
Earlier this year, Kenya-based insurtech startup Pula secured $6 million in its Series A funding round led by early stage pan African VC firm TLcom Capital. The funding round also saw participation from the non-profit Women’s World Banking. Pula targets smallholder farmers who make up 80 percent of the food supply across Africa and Asia.
According to a Mckinsey report, the insurance market in Africa in a pre-pandemic setting was expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7 percent between 2020 and 2025, which is twice as much as North America, three times more than Europe and above Asia’s 6 percent.
It was also observed that Africa scores very low in insurance uptake, pointing to a 2.8 percent insurance penetration compared to the world’s average of 6.8 percent. The insurance penetration is seemingly more concerning in Kenya as it has recently decreased. That said, Kenya’s GDP growth rate has outpaced insurance premiums, media reports said.