Nigeria’s Octamile, an insurtech company enabling insurance and non-insurance businesses to protect African consumers from financial loss, has come out of stealth mode with US$500,000 in pre-seed funding.
The Octamile solution enables non-insurance businesses to offer insurance as a feature in their pre-existing products, while insurance providers are offered the data and technology necessary to improve customer experience, reduce administrative costs and optimise the profitability of their insurance portfolio.
The startup has until now been in stealth mode, but has now fully launched off the back of a US$500,000 pre-seed funding round. The round was led by EchoVC Partners, with participation from Fiat Ventures, Kesho VC, Trade X, Verraki Partners, Dale Mathias, Kyle Daley, and other local and international angels.
“Insurance is one sector that has the power to elevate the economy, but only about five out of 100 Africans have any form of insurance protection. The industry has lagged in the use of technology to deliver better products and services,” said Gbenro Dara, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Octamile, who has spent the last decade in leading roles at various technology startups, including Jumia, MyAutoGenius, Hotels.ng and Cheki.
“Our team has identified key areas where we add value and support the growth of the Insurance ecosystem with data and technology by partnering with traditional insurance businesses and non-insurance businesses.”
Describing itself as the “operating system infrastructure for digital insurance in Africa”, Octamile offers various benefits to the ecosystem, including digital claims, improved risk assessment, and embedded insurance APIs.
“Our goal over the next months will be to work closely with our partners, which include AXAMansard, and FirstBank, and onboard the dozens of insurers and startups on the waitlist ready to leverage the power of our solutions,” said Dara.