Kenya-based B2B and B2B2C insurance-as-a-service platform and API Lami has raised a US$3.7 million seed extension round to help it expand across Africa.
Founded by Jihan Abass in 2018, Lami is a digital insurance platform that enables partner businesses – including banks, tech companies, and other entities – to easily and seamlessly offer digital insurance products to their users via its API.
The startup, which last year was chosen by Catalyst Fund as part of the eighth cohort of its inclusive fintech accelerator and also secured US$1.8 million in seed funding, can also be used by partner businesses to manage their own insurance needs, and connects partner organisations with underwriters and allows them to offer a superior customer journey.
The seed extension round was led by Harlem Capital, an early-stage venture firm that invests in seed-stage tech-enabled startups, focused on minority and women founders. Participating in the round were early-stage venture capital firm Newtown Partners; Peter Bruce-Clark, a partner at New York’s research-driven venture capital company Social Impact Capital; Caribou Honig and Jay Weintraub of InsureTech Connect, a networking platform for insurtech innovators; and senior members from Exotix Advisory, a corporate finance and M&A boutique focused on emerging and developing markets.
Lami founder and CEO Jihan Abass said the additional funding would be used for business development, product and technology development, and expansion to other countries including Egypt, Nigeria, and Uganda.
“Lami is pioneering innovation in the insurance sector, and we are glad to have secured the right partners to help drive insurance uptake across Africa. We are looking to make insurance easily accessible to everyone on the continent, and we will continually be unveiling more products that confirm this resolve,” she said.
Harlem Capital said they were drawn to Lami by its diverse market scope and strategic approach to growth.
“We believe the next wave of fintech will embed financial products and services like insurance into a customer’s purchase experience. Lami’s approach to serving people through strategic partners in ecommerce and finance is the best way to build trust with users and deliver insurance in a seamless, accessible way to Africans across the continent. Lami’s impressive growth to date shows that this resonates with customers and have a strong trajectory as they expand across the continent,” said Harlem Capital principal Gabby Cazeau.
