27-year-old Jihan Abass secured Ksh191 million funding for a company she founded to help low-income communities access insurance products.
Jihan’s start-up, Lami Technologies, helps insurance firms tailor affordable products for low-income clients.
A huge chunk of the funding was provided by Accion Venture Lab, a seed-stage investment firm that supports financial services targeted at underserved markets.
“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,” she expressed.
“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,’ the entrepreneur added.
Jihan has cemented her mark in the tech industry and is a celebrated entrepreneur for her efforts to bridge the access gap using disruptive technological innovations.
In 2020, she became the first Kenyan to launch a digital insurance service for motor vehicles.
Her brainchild lets customers pay their remittances in instalments and pause coverage in case they travel abroad for one reason or the other.
The company also boasts a system that enables the processing of claims in a week rather than the industry standard of 30 days.
Kenyan start-ups have been praised for being the most preferred investment choice for venture capital firms in the continent.
Between 2015 and 2020, for example, Kenyan startups funding increased to Ksh26 billion from Ksh20.8 billion.
Kenyan serial entrepreneur, Sam Gichuru, has also secured a Ksh151 million funding for his revolutionary schooling platform (dubbed Kidato).
