Kenyan micro-insurtech startup Turaco has closed a US$1.2 million seed funding round to grow into new markets and put in place new pilots and partnerships.
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.
Currently operating in Kenya and Uganda, the startup offers life and health insurance products distributed through partnerships, with its offering 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, which secured US$40,000 in grant funding from Villgro Kenya last year and non-equity venture-building support from Catalyst Fund back in June, has now taken on a seed round of US$$1.2 million to further scale its operations across Africa. GAN Ventures, Mercy Corps Ventures and Musha Ventures, as well as several angel investors, contributed to the round.
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. 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 US$2. The business anticipates continued rapid growth, with plans already in place to raise additional capital in 2020.
“We built Turaco based on the belief that we are called to love all our neighbours 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,” said Turaco co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Ted Pantone.
“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.”
