BimaLab 2023: Home

About the program

FSD Africa, in partnership with Swiss Re Foundation and insurance regulators in Africa is in search of scalable innovative solutions that will reduce the large risk protection gap from many external threats such as climate change, natural disasters, health risks, and economic disruptions. The goal of the BimaLab Africa Insurtech Accelerator Program is to create an insurtech innovation ecosystem that:

Supports the growth of insurtechs
Reaches underserved markets (particularly households and communities that are currently unprotected)

Improves customer value; and
Creates an enabling regulatory environment.

Background

Less than 3% of Africa’s GDP is driven by insurance, which is below the world average of 7%. Innovative solutions have much potential to change this picture and enhance financial inclusion by providing access to unserved and underserved customers. However, adoption of digital solutions within the incumbent insurance sector in Africa has been slow and the growth of insurtech sector is held back by a lack of knowledge on product development, consumer behaviour, and entrepreneurship skills, funding, Legal and regulatory barriers and lack structures for promoting partnerships.

BimaLab Africa’s main objective is to foster innovation that can extend access to insurance products and services to communities and businesses that are historically underserved or excluded. BimaLabalso enables regulatory sandboxing helping mutual understanding and exploration between regulators and insurtechs. This will address the weak demand for and low-quality supply of risk solutions, and restrictive enabling environments that impact across risk markets in Africa.

What we offer

Selected innovators will access the Accelerator Programme, which is a 5-month acceleration programmeprovidingaccess to:

Support from the Accelerator experts and relevant partners throughout the duration of the program
Access to regulatory expertise and resources in partnership with the regulators in the 10 countries
Mentorship and access to a global network of relevant stakeholders
Connections that can support local investments, networking, navigation, showcasing and critical challenges support
Peer to peer support from the cohort group established through workshops, webinars and events
Pitch your innovative business solution during the Demo Day
Top three ventures will access to US$30,000 in equity-free funding for scaling their solutions

What We Are Looking For

The BimaLab 2023 program will work with twenty (20) businesses at MVP and post-revenue stage to join the acceleration track and can demonstrate that:

They are at least at a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage. Proof of concept is preferred.
They have conducted pilot(s) or already established feasibility.
They have a product or service with a verified potential of commercial value and impact.

Geographical Focus

Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Egypt, and Morocco.

Eligibility Criteria

Location: The applicant organization must have a presence and be locally rooted in the country of implementation: country office or other permanent presence
Technology: Businesses that make innovative use of technology (hardware or software) as part of their solution to reduce costs, improve a product experience, and/or open financial services to the underserved and unserved population.
Audience: Insurtech innovations that are filling market gaps and contributing to inclusion, (including, but not limited to, sectors such as agriculture, health, housing, renewable energy, etc.)
Impact & Scalability:Businesses that have the potential to grow and scale to achieve high impact driving gains in line with inclusive insurance goals. The solutions should be sustainable and have the potential of a noticeable impact on financially underserved people.
Product: Businesses that have a working prototype of the solution (at a minimum) that is either in the market or ready-to-launch
Traction: Applicants should show evidence of feasibility and adoption by the target audience.
Business Model: Applicants should demonstrate the viability of their business model, how they intend to achieve a sustainable business, pricing, and financial model. Ventures should be in the process of developing a clear path to commercial viability (business model fit).
Team: Businesses that have a leadership team comprised of driven, coachable and collaborative people with some expertise in the area of focus.