UGANDA— Turaco, a health and life insuretech firm, has announced that it has surpassed 1,000,000 lives insured, a first for a technology-based insurance firm in Africa.
Turaco describes itself as a micro-insurtech company changing healthcare financing in emerging markets.
Moreover, the insuretech firm adds that they aim to provide simple, affordable health and life insurance to low-income earners, distributing our products through partnerships with leading businesses.
The company holds that its mission is to act as a safety net, freeing people from the fear of health-related financial shocks.
Founded in 2019, Turaco is a distributor, broker, and key customer interface between the underwriter and the end consumer.
Since the e-insurance firm raised US$10M in a series A funding round, they have expanded to Kenya and Nigeria to provide people access to a much-needed safety net against financial shocks to mass market consumers.
Turaco reported that 350,000 of those protected by Turaco signed up in the last 3 months as part of a newly launched partnership with Airtel Money Uganda and Prudential Uganda.
Acknowledging that the rapid customer uptake reinforces the demand for Turaco’s innovative and customer-centric products and approach.
From a simple 2-step USSD sign-up process to an average 15-hour turnaround time on claims processing and payment, the Airtel Hospital Sente product is designed to be simple and easy to use.
Their rapid expansion is pegged by forming partnerships with top tech-enabled companies such as Kenya Power, M-KOPA, Paga, One Acre Fund, and Vision Fund to design white-labeled products.
Particularly, their partner customers are then able to sign-up and pay for insurance as they buy these other products or services.
Ted Patone, CEO and Co-Founder, Turaco said, “We founded Turaco with a vision to insure the next 1 billion people. Surpassing 1 million customers is an important and validating milestone in that process.”
Patone added that most importantly, this represented 1,000,000 individual mothers, fathers, children, and community members that have access to better health care and improved financial resiliency because of Turaco insurance.
The deal that has propelled Turaco’s new growth propensity
In March 2023, telecom giant, Airtel Uganda partnered with Prudential Assurance Uganda Limited and insure-tech, Turaco to provide a health insurance product dubbed ‘Hospital Sente.’
Rolled under Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda Limited (AMCUL) via Airtel Money, ‘Hospital Sente’ is a low-cost hospital cash insurance cover product with funeral benefits aimed at increasing access to insurance for underserved communities and low-income individuals and families.
The cover aimed at easing Airtel customers’ financial burden associated with hospital admissions and bereavement.
Hospital Sente also offers beneficiaries a cash payout if they get hospitalized.
Hamza Mutebi, the general manager, of Turaco Ltd held that most Ugandans remained unreached by mainstream insurance, all while being the most vulnerable to financial shocks caused by illness, accidents, and death.
Bernard Obel, the director of supervision from the Insurance Regulation Authority (IRA) welcomed the policy, saying that innovations such as this are important and drive the agenda of increasing the uptake of insurance in the market and additionally deepening financial inclusion for sustainable social economic growth.
The policy is eligible to customers aged between 18 and 65 years and with active Airtel mobile money numbers and can be accessed via mobile phones and claims received through mobile money.
Turaco seed A financing, helping it spreads its wings across the continent
E-insurance firm in September 2022 was able to net $10 million in a Series A equity round led by AfricInvest, via the Cathay Africinvest Innovation Fund, and existing investor, Novastar Ventures.
The round also included participation from Enza Capital, Global Partnerships, Zephyr Acorn, Operator Stack, Asi Ventures Limited, and Push Ventures.
The firm noted that this was achieved, by proving that through their B2B and B2B2C business model which includes forming partnerships with tech-enabled companies with a large pool of customers or staff in emerging markets, including brands such as Sun King, One Acre Fund, Tugende, M-KOPA, and VisionFund.
Turaco added that in Africa, 90% of people have no formal safety net to catch them if they get sick or are in an accident.
Additionally, 89 million Africans face a catastrophic health event annually, spending up to 10% of their income on a single event, and health shocks push 14 million Africans into poverty each year. This is in part because less than 2% of people in East and West Africa have access to insurance.
Subsequently, since insurance is still very much in its infancy and most African insurance underwriters and intermediaries use rigid systems that do not allow for integration with external partners, with many still using paper-based processes.
To this end, Turaco is building in a largely untapped sector, opening a huge market, and innovating for mass-market consumers by providing a solution that will drive inclusive insurance.
Targeted at underserved customers and low-income earners, Turaco embeds its service as a white-labeled offering that is bundled with a partner’s core product or service while integrating with their existing payment processes to collect premiums.
With API integration that allows for easy collaboration with its external partners, Turaco enables companies to integrate insurance into their products and services efficiently and at no additional risk or cost.
For example, in 2019, Turaco partnered with M-KOPA to embed insurance with M-KOPA’s products for the company’s customers and direct sales representatives.
Turaco products are priced at around US$1.77 a month, with straightforward terms and conditions and a digitized claims process that allows claimants to file via WhatsApp or phone call, paying out in less than three days via mobile money.
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