Kenyan Insurance Startup, Lami, Secures $1.8 Million In Funding

Lami, a Kenyan Insurance Technology Company, has secured $1.8 million in seed funding to expand its operations across the continent.

With a penetration rate of 3%, according to a McKinsey study, less than half of the global percentage of 7.3%, Africa has one of the lowest insurance penetration rates in the world with countries like Kenya and Nigeria having just 2.8% and 0.3% penetration rates respectively. 

Startups like Lami, have however been formed to find a solution to that.

Founded in 2018, by Kenyan Jihan Abass, Lami created an API that makes it possible for different businesses, from tech companies to banks, to seamlessly offer digital insurance products to users. Anyone can log in to the Lami app and get a quotation for insurance products like medical, or automobile in a matter of seconds. These users can customize the benefits and requirements to suit their needs and conditions, as well as get policy documents instantly.

The startup also supports partner businesses in managing their insurance needs while also connecting them to underwriters, an example of their partner business is Jumia.

One of the reasons insurance is not as popular in Africa as in other places is due to the archaic distribution and administration of the policies. These are dependent on old manual methods which are inflexible, time-consuming, and breeds customer dissatisfaction.

Lami, however, employs the use of cloud computing, automation, and third-party service providers which eliminates most of the problems of the regular insurance process. The third-party service providers used include emergency and valuation, or asset and identity verification databases, which ensures all information is in sync and provides a cooperative ecosystem for all its partner businesses. It also makes it possible for customers to easily adjust their insurance depending on present needs, and get paid in record time without spending too long processing papers.

Since its launch about 3 years ago, Lami has over 5,000 policies that have been sold and have collaborated with over 25 underwriters including Pioneer, and Britam. The startup has also distributed over 30 highly streamlined and competitive products on insurance, which were designed to meet the needs of users.

With this funding, the company intends to build on its core technology and acquire more partners to grow the company's presence in Africa, as CEO, Jihan Abass, is positive that there is potential in the African insurance space. 

In an interview with Tech Crunch, Jihan Abass said, “This funding will allow us to invest in hiring more people, improving our technology, and growing our presence across Africa as we can continue to address the persistent insurance gap. At Lami, our vision is to help improve the financial resilience of millions by making insurance products more accessible and affordable for underserved populations. By enabling our business partners to offer customized insurance solutions, we are helping them provide more value to their customers, while enabling large volumes of users to access insurance, often for the first time.”

Regardless of the low penetration rates, the annual insurance market rates on the continent are worth about $60 billion.

This funding round was led by Accion Venture Lab. Other companies which participated include AAIC, Consonance, P1 Ventures, Acuity Ventures, The Continent Venture Partners, and Future Africa.