South African insurtech startup Pineapple has raised ZAR80 million (US$5.4 million) in Series A funding as it looks to expand further into the car insurance space off the back of growing by 200 per cent in the last six months.
Launched in 2018 and an alumnus of the Google Launchpad Africa accelerator, Pineapple allows users to get quotes and insurance on items with just the snap of a picture.
The startup raised funding around the times of its launch and in 2019 banked US$1.5 million after winning the US-based VentureClash competition, and it has now secured its Series A. The ZAR80 million (US$5.4 million) round includes the likes of Lireas Holdings, the ASISA ESD Fund, E4E, Vunani Capital and the Old Mutual Enterprise & Supplier Development Fund.
Pineapple will use the investment to expand further into the car insurance space after an impressive last six months of growth.
“We did not expect to grow by 200 per cent in the first 6 months of this year, but it goes to show that customer insurance purchase behaviour is starting to shift online and that customers are becoming more astute as to the online ratings of insurance providers and not settling for second best with respect to customer experience,” said Pineapple co-founder Ndabenhle Ngulube.
