YC-backed Curacel launches Grow, to enable technology companies offer insurance seamlessly

Curacel has launched an embedded insurance product named Curacel Grow, which enables technology companies to seamlessly offer insurance as part of their existing products and services.

Leading African insurance infrastructure startup, Curacel, was part of the Winter 2022 cohort of Silicon Valley’s prestigious Y Combinator accelerator. Joining the growing list of successful African startups that have participated in and benefitted from the program.

Insurance penetration in Africa is currently at less than 3 percent, with most policies sold offline and manually through brokers and agents. This complex process makes insurance products expensive and out of reach for most price-sensitive Africans.

Other factors attributed to the low penetration include high poverty rate, low awareness level, failure to embrace digital technology, high level of financial exclusion, lack of infrastructural & distribution channels, lack of domestic skills and a shortage of data.

Consequently, market penetration of insurance products in Africa is half of the global average and premiums per capita are 11 times lower than the global average. The insurance industry in Africa also shows less than one percent of insured catastrophe losses worldwide, although it’s home to almost 17 percent of the global population. This suggests that there is significant scope for growth.

Curacel is an insurance infrastructure company that helps insurers, partners in Africa and other emerging markets increase the reach and functionality of insurance through cloud-based tools and APIs.

With Grow, insurers can accelerate the distribution of their products by taking advantage of Curacel’s technology to easily embed insurance within other digital experiences in a more accessible way.

The product can also help technology companies increase their recurring revenue by offering the protection their consumers need without the hassle of finding integration and negotiating terms with insurers and brokers.

The solution is designed to integrate seamlessly with any technology platform and Curacel’s AI-powered infrastructure means claims can be submitted and processed in real time.

Curacel is launching Grow to support more effective distribution of insurance to millions of Africans through partners like Barter by Flutterwave, Float, Payhippo and other leading technology companies.

The startup will also enable seamless embedding of insurance in customer user journeys. For instance, with Curacel Grow, airlines will be able to offer travel insurance to their customers through simple APIs. Automotive dealers will also be able to seamlessly sell insurance to customers as a value-added service.

Curacel has built its market leading infrastructure that powers claims and fraud protection for forward thinking insurers like AXA Mansard and Old Mutual, and this expansive network of underwriters enables the distribution of insurance at scale.

Speaking on the new product, Henry Mascot, CEO and co-founder of Curacel, said, “risk protection is a major consideration for Africa’s growing middle class. As it becomes easier to access credit and other financial services to enable new experiences, we want to make it easier to protect these experiences and enjoy them with full confidence.

The success of various technology companies over the years has opened the door to many previously underserved people and we want to take advantage of this to accelerate the penetration of much needed insurance products across the continent.”

Curacel has a presence in 8 countries across Africa, enabling insurers to connect with digital distribution channels and administer their claims cost-effectively. Curacel currently works with 15 insurance companies in 8 African markets.