Pula, an agricultural insurance and tech startup, has announced the closing of a $20 million series B funding round.
The funding will go towards providing insurance to thousands of smallholder farmers in developing countries who would otherwise be unable to afford it in the case of natural disasters like droughts or floods.
Through its InsuResilience approach, BlueOrchard, a global impact investment manager and Schroders Group member, led the funding round.
IFC and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme’s Private Sector Window also provided funding (GAFSP).
The funding comes from the IFC’s $225 million venture capital platform, which was established in November 2022 to make investments in early-stage businesses using technological breakthroughs to advance development.
In the developing world, almost 80% of smallholder farmers do not have access to formal insurance; in Africa, that figure rises to an astounding 97%.
Pula has established a strong network of more than 100 partners in response to this urgent situation, which allows them to contact a variety of farmers.
Pula is lowering the cost and increasing the accessibility of insurance by combining it with other necessities like finance and seeds.
Thanks to this tactic, Pula is now Africa’s biggest insurtech in the agriculture and climate insurance markets.
Because of Pula’s efforts, many farmers who had never bought insurance now do so, giving them the ability to safeguard their livelihoods.
“Partnering with this group of like-minded investors to boost the growth of Pula globally is a very exciting milestone in driving our triple 100 vision, through which we intend to bring insurance to 100 million smallholder farmers. What started nine years ago as an unconventional idea that many deemed unscalable is now a proven solution that has solved real needs for millions of smallholder farmers across 22 countries. We are particularly excited to be working with BlueOrchard, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IFC, and Hesabu to benefit from their industry expertise and networks as we grow to fulfil our joint ambition of more resilient and climate secure food systems,” said Thomas Njeru, CEO and Co-Founder of Pula.
To supply its cutting-edge insurance solutions, Pula has teamed with more than 70 insurance firms, 20 reinsurance organisations, and 100 distribution partners worldwide since its founding.
Additionally, this has aided in local insurance and reinsurance companies’ ability to comprehend and provide agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers.
At the moment, Pula’s principal markets are in Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.
They are also beginning to establish themselves in Latin America and Asia. These marketplaces are organised from the Kenya service centre and managed out of Switzerland.
Over the next five years, Pula will be able to significantly expand its scope and improve its operations thanks to the USD 20 million Series B funding.
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