BimaLab 2024: Home

FSD Africa, in partnership with Swiss Re Foundation, FSD Network and various 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. BimaLab also 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.

The BimaLab Africa Accelerator Programme 2024 program is working with twenty five (25) businesses at MVP and post-revenue stage, from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania,Zambia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Egypt, and Morocco, in the acceleration track. The selected cohort is going through through a 5-month acceleration programme that provides access to:

A structured learning environment - BimaLab accelerator offers a structured program of events and activities designed to help startups learn and grow.
Access to mentorship - Startups accepted into an accelerator program will have access to experienced mentors who can provide valuable advice and guidance. The program provides mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and professionals. The mentors can help startups with advice, connections, and resources.
Funding - BimaLab Africa has relationships with venture capitalists and other investors, which can give startups access to the funding they need to grow. The program provides startups with funding from investors. This can help startups grow their businesses and scale their operations.
Built-in support network - BimaLab program will enable the startup be part of a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, which can be a great source of support and inspiration.
Connections - Another benefit of being accepted into a startup accelerator is access to connections with financial institutions, technology companies and regulators. The program also provides startups with connections to potential customers, partners, and investors. These connections can help startups grow their businesses.

BimaLab Africa Selection Criteria

Team and Leadership - Does the team have the right mix of skills and experience to succeed? Is the team passionate and committed to their idea? Is at least one of the co-founders a woman.
Market - Is the potential or current market large enough to support the company's growth? Is there a real need for the product or service?
Business Model - Is the business model sound and sustainable? Does it have the potential to generate revenue and profits?
Traction - Has the company achieved any early traction? This could be in the form of customers, users, investors or media attention.
Gender Focus - Does thee company have a female founding team? Does the solution focus on solving for a gender intentional challenge?
Innovation and inclusivity - Does your solution make use of innovation and contributes to inclusion of underserved or unserved segments in the financial sector?