South African fintech startup Fo-Sho has launched its insurtech product aimed at making short-term insurance with long term benefits via self-insurance possible for everyone.
A participant in the ongoing Startupbootcamp accelerator in Cape Town, Fo-Sho recently secured a multimillion rand venture capital investment and will be launching with premium commitments in excess of ZAR10 million (US$714,000) through a combined portfolio of SMMEs and emerging middle-class sign-ups.
The Fo-Sho team has over 50 years of collective experience, and claims to be developing products aimed at growing the insurance market by making cover accessible and affordable to communities that are not currently adequately catered for in broad spectrum of income brackets.
Its insurance product relies on policyholders forming groups with similar risk profiles to create savings pools to reduce the cost of risk financing and to mitigate excess payments in the event of a claim.
The app gives the consumer the power to get insurance quickly, comfortably, and on their own terms in approximately three minutes.
“We know there is a need in the market place. On the lower or higher socio-economic spectrum, our research shows that barriers of distrust of large corporates and their bloated profit margins, or simply an inability to understand complex jargon, is resulting in an enormous population that are financially excluded from the benefits of being insured,” said Avi Naidoo, chief executive officer (CEO) of Fo-Sho.
“We cannot attain our goals of financial equality or financial independence at scale if we don’t first fix critical financial tools and accessibility of these models, like insurance.”
