While based in Kenya, Pula is an insurance technology company that has been working to make it easier for small-scale farmers in developing markets to get agricultural insurance since 2015. This would protect them from losses caused by pests, diseases, and/or extreme weather events like floods and droughts.
The insurance tech company has already helped 15.4 million farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America get insurance. Now that it has a $20 million series B funding round, it will be able to form new relationships and offer more insurance options, including coverage for livestock.
Global investment manager BlueOrchard led the round as part of its InsuResilience strategy, which aims to give vulnerable people in emerging countries access to climate insurance. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Hesabu Capital, current investors, and the IFC’s $225 million venture capital platform also participated in the round.
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“Working with this group of like-minded investors to help Pula grow worldwide is a big step towards our triple 100 vision, which aims to give insurance to 100 million smallholder farmers.” “What started nine years ago as a strange idea that many people thought couldn’t be scaled up is now a tried-and-true solution that has met the real needs of millions of smallholder farmers in 22 countries,” Thomas Njeru, CEO of Pula and co-founder of the insurtech with Rose Goslinga, said.
Pula adds agriculture insurance to partners’ offerings
Pula embeds insurance in farm input costs or credit through a distribution channel of over 100 partners, including charitable organisations, banks, governments, and agricultural input companies, to reach hard-to-reach farmers.
Pula tailors its products to its customers and benefits farmers. Pula’s digital actuary platform designs and sets premiums for insurance and reinsurance products based on historical data on weather patterns, floods, droughts, harvests, losses, and inputs.
In its long-term engagement with Zambia, the insurtech embeds insurance premiums with fertiliser and seed packages to reach farmers nationwide. With the World Food Programme, German Development Bank KfW, and a local insurer, it embedded insurance in an input voucher plan for 122,000 Ethiopian farmers. Due to a wheat rust epidemic in Amhara, Pula will make the most significant insurance payout, estimated at $800,000.
Pula says farmers using its products have increased investment, yields, and savings. This highlights the benefits of agricultural insurance for emerging countries like Africa, where small-scale farmers supply 70% of the food supply, but only 1% is protected. High cost, lack of understanding, and availability are hurdles to agricultural insurance.
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Pula research in several African nations where we have offered insurance suggests that agricultural insurance helps smallholder farmers boost farm investment by 16%, yields by 56%, and household savings by up to 170%. Our partner insurer’s payouts have reached over US$40 million to 900,000 farmers since Pula’s beginning, and this has also affected farmers’ livelihoods, said Njeru.
Finally, our renewal rate and growth show our impact. Above the industry norm, 80% of farmer groups and aggregators that buy Pula-developed insurance packages from our partner insurers renew the following year, demonstrating customer satisfaction with our complete offerings.
After a pilot programme in Nigeria last year, Pula will provide livestock insurance in Kenya based on its crop insurance products. Through insurance partners, Pula offers rural Nigerian families comprehensive coverage against banditry, sickness, and animal mortality. It also expanded to Asia and Latin America, which it entered in 2021.