KENYA – Pula, an agricultural insurtech company, has raised US$20 million in a Series B funding round to establish new partnerships as it looks to expand its insurance policies to include livestock insurance.
The latest funding round was led by BlueOrchard through its InsuResilience strategy which aims at providing access to climate insurance to vulnerable people in emerging markets.
The round also saw participation from the IFC through its US$225 million venture capital fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Hesabu Capital. Other existing investors also participated in the round.
Speaking about the funding round, Pula CEO Thomas Njeru said partnering with this group of like-minded investors to boost the growth of Pula globally is a very exciting milestone in driving the startup’s triple 100 vision, through which it intends to bring insurance to 100 million smallholder farmers.
“What started nine years ago as an unconventional idea that many deemed un-scalable is now a proven solution that has solved real needs for millions of smallholder farmers across 22 countries,” Njeru said.
Founded in 2015 by CEO Thomas Njeru and Rose Goslinga, the Kenya-based insurance technology company is focused on providing access to agricultural insurance to small-holder farmers across emerging markets in Africa.
This insurance would protect them against losses caused by pests, diseases and extreme natural events like floods and droughts.
Instead of selling insurance directly to farmers, Pula has built a distribution channel of over 100 partners. These partners include charitable organizations, banks, governments and agricultural input companies.
The distribution channels guarantee that the startup can reach farmers even in the most remote areas and provide what it calls “embedded insurance,” for instance, in farm input costs or credit.
So far, the startup said it has helped 15.4 million farmers across Africa, Asia and Latin America to get insurance.
Pula says it is looking to introduce livestock covers in countries like Kenya. This will kickstart upon the completion of a pilot program that kicked off in Nigeria last year.
Through insurance partners, the startup says it has been offering rural families in Nigeria comprehensive coverage against banditry, disease and death of animals. It would also be doubling down on Asia and Latin America, markets it entered in 2021.
Among its collaborations is a long-term partnership with the government of Zambia, where the insurtech embeds insurance premiums with fertilizer and seed packages, reaching farmers across the country.
In Ethiopia, it partnered with the World Food Programme and German Development Bank KfW and a local insurer, where it embedded insurance in the input voucher scheme that reached 122,000 farmers.
The startup says its impact is about to be felt in the Amhara region where it is set to make its largest insurance payout to date, estimated at US$800,000, following an outbreak of wheat rust disease.
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