Lami Technologies Raises $3.7 Million Seed Extension

Kenyan insurtech start-up, Lami Technologies, has raised $3.7 Million seed extension adding to the $1.8 million seed funding the insurtech raised last year. The company says that the fund will be used to hire, fast-track its expansion plans, and drive underwriter partnerships.

The insurtech has also appointed Roy Perlot, as the Chief Finance Officer (CFO). Roy has been with Lami since 2020, as a co-founder. While announcing the appointment of Roy Perlot, Lami CEO Jihan Abass also said the company has plans to offer additional insurance product lines. Furthermore, the startup has also made an entry into Egypt and Nigeria.

This funding round was led by Harlem Capital. Other investors that participated in the round include early-stage VC 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 mergers and acquisition boutique focused on emerging markets.

The startup’s API allows other financial entities like banks to offer digital insurance products to their customers.

Lami has also integrated its API with over 15 entities in various sectors, including logistics, e-commerce, banking, and fintech.

The expected growth will largely be fueled by increasing partnerships and product lines, and the aggressive expansion plans it embarked on this year when it entered Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after acquiring Bluewave.

The acquisition helped Lami to tap Bluewave’s clientele and technologies that enable access to micro-insurance products through diverse channels like USSD and WhatsApp chatbots.

Abass anticipates more growth opportunities with additional partnerships from tech-enabled businesses and as more insurance companies digitize.

“On the technology side we want to cater to the entire insurance ecosystem. So, it’s not only the digital platforms that want to sell insurance products, but also to help existing players be more efficient in their distribution of products, allowing them to play a role in increasing the insurance penetration level. This includes agents and brokers , we are looking into how we can empower them to sell more policies,” she said.