- The new investment will be used to scale up operations in the company’s existing 13 markets across Africa.
- Currently, Pula has impacted over 4.3 million farmers on the continent
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU
Pula, an African InsureTech service provider has raised $6 million (Sh650 million) Series A fundraise to derisk smallholder farmers across Africa
The Series A fund was led by a Nairobi-based venture firm TLcom Capital, with the participation of Women’s World Banking.
The new investment will be used to scale up operations in the company’s existing 13 markets across Africa.
Currently, Pula has impacted over 4.3 million farmers on the continent and the new funding will also help propel its expansion into Asia to power resilience and profitability for Asian smallholder farmers.
Speaking on the new fundraise, Pula CEO Rose Goslinga said the funding will help them break into the new ground on their mission to build and deliver scalable insurance solutions for Africa’s 700 million smallholder farmers.
''In our five years since launching, we’ve built strong traction for our products but the fact remains that across Africa and other emerging markets, there are still millions of smallholder farmers with risks to their livelihoods that have not been covered,’’ Goslinga said.
He added that in the midst of a global pandemic, farmers need assurances now more than ever and with this in mind, it’s time to scale up.
''Having TLcom Capital and Women’s World Banking along on the journey with us opens up many more opportunities as we build across the continent and beyond,’’ she said.
Through its partnerships with banks, governments and agricultural input companies, Pula is at the center of an ecosystem that provides insurance to smallholder farmers and has amassed 50 insurance partners, as well as six reinsurance partners.
Maurizio Caio, managing partner at TLcom Capital praised Pula’s activities, saying that it is an honour working with the firm, which is addressing a hugely underserved market in one of Africa’s key drivers of growth, and with this, an opportunity for major economic upside.
''We are confident of Pula’s potential for growth in spite of the pandemic and look forward to partnering with them as they execute the next phase of their journey,’’ Caio.
Christina Juhasz, CIO at Women’s World Banking said that her firm is delighted to partner with Pula Advisors in providing them financial safety nets against the risks of pests, disease and climate change.
Launched in 2015, Pula designs and delivers innovative agricultural insurance and digital products to help smallholder farmers endure climate risks, improve their farming practices and bolster their incomes over time.
Through its Area Yield Index Insurance product, Pula leverages machine learning, crop cuts experiments and data points relating to weather patterns and farmer losses to build products that cater to a variety of risks including drought, excessive rainfall, pests and diseases.