South African cell captive insurance provider Guardrisk is looking for innovative insurtech startups to back via its ZAR50 million (US$2.8 million) LAUNCHPAD initiative.
Guardrisk, a subsidiary of Momentum Metropolitan, said the initiative aims to harness the power of its tech-enabled ecosystem to unlock opportunities to develop relevant solutions that will create value for customers, the selected entrepreneurs, partners, and Guardrisk.
“The digital economy and the business landscape of today is constantly changing, making it essential for organisations in a fast-paced and competitive sector like insurance to evolve to stay relevant. This means adapting to specific business and industry challenges and changing customer needs,” says Xolani Nxanga, managing executive for microinsurance and insurtech lead at Guardrisk. “Technology – and insurtech solutions, in particular – increasingly provide the ability to transform one’s business and address client challenges.”
Through LAUNCHPAD, Guardrisk will partner with venture capital investors to co-invest in and support entrepreneurs in predominantly insurtech scale-ups, as well as startups where the solution is innovative and compelling enough to drive tangible and measurable business value.
The initiative will provide tailored support for each entrepreneur, including both financial support through funding and non-financial support through business and technical mentorship. Support will also include finding the best and most effective distribution channels to match individual venture expertise.
“Guardrisk is by nature an entrepreneurial business, so we understand the challenges and opportunities that entrepreneurs face in building and scaling their businesses – and are nimble enough to help them navigate these, grow and develop products and solutions that meet client needs while simultaneously enabling convenience, flexibility and cost-effectiveness,” said Nxanga.
“We are excited about the opportunity to partner and collaborate with entrepreneurs and venture capital investors to build a robust insurtech ecosystem that pushes beyond industry boundaries and uses innovation to solve real customer and business challenges in South Africa.”
Entrepreneurs or investors looking to partner with Guardrisk to create value-adding insurtech solutions can get more details here.