3IF Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on investing in insurance technology businesses in Africa, announced the first close of US$12 million for its inclusive insurance investment fund.
The fund focuses specifically on Africa’s insurance start-up market and is backed by FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) and ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) as lead investors. According to 3IF Ventures, the fund will provide equity financing to early-stage companies from seed to Series B stages.
The company said the fund was established in response to Africa’s huge insurance protection gap, which continues to limit the financial resilience of individuals and businesses across the continent. 3IF Ventures noted that low levels of awareness, accessibility and affordability remain major barriers to insurance penetration, leaving more than 1 billion people uninsured.
Through the fund, 3IF Ventures intends to invest in technology-enabled insurance businesses operating in four core areas: climate and disaster resilience, agriculture and rural livelihoods, digital health and wellbeing, and SME and asset protection. The firm’s ultimate fund size target is $30 million and it expects to build a portfolio of approximately 15 to 20 companies. A technical assistance fund equivalent to approximately 20% of total capital commitments will also be established to support portfolio operations.
According to 3IF Ventures, the fund is structured as a hybrid financing vehicle with a catalytic junior capital component designed to encourage greater participation from private investors. The company expects the fund to contribute to a range of social and economic outcomes over the investment period, including issuing more than 5.9 million new policies, improving the financial resilience of more than 3.5 million households and small and medium-sized businesses, and creating, retaining or supporting more than 1.7 million jobs.
Commenting on the first closing, 3IF Ventures general partners Anthony Chaillet and Dr. Mario Wilhelm said: “The first closing of FSD Africa Investments and ZEP-RE on the same capital table is a market signal: impact and private capital are now investing in the same insurtech pioneers.
“Africa’s protection gap is the most underserved business opportunity in a decade, and closing it will require patient capital, local risk capabilities and industry-level portfolio support working together. With a pre-qualified pipeline of fifteen insurance players across ten African markets, we are ready to deploy capital and look forward to working with strategic private and public partners as we enter the next phase of growth.”
Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer at FSD Africa Investments, added: “FSDAi’s investment in 3IF Ventures reflects our belief that the insurtech industry is ready to scale – building on the pipeline of 135 early-stage companies supported by BimaLab. As Africa’s first investment vehicle dedicated to inclusive insurance, 3IF Ventures “Bringing institutional rigor to a segment that has long lacked it, this first closing proves that when industry expertise, the right capital structure and the right partners are aligned, the protection gap becomes an investable proposition.”
ZEP-RE Managing Director and Group CEO Hope Murera said the organization sees the fund as an opportunity to support the development of innovative insurance solutions across Africa through collaboration between public, private and development sector stakeholders.
She said: “This fund is aligned with our mission to deliver sustainable and innovative re/insurance solutions that close the protection gap and drive economic growth by working with private, public and development sector partners. The fund will help bring together like-minded partners and capital providers to support technology-driven insurance operations and help close the protection gap across Africa.”
“In addition to the capital injection, ZEP-RE will provide further support to investee companies through its technical experience in the reinsurance ecosystem, such as product design, and leverage its existing network among major insurers and regulators to provide investee companies with underwriting capabilities and an enabling regulatory environment to achieve mutual success across the continent.”
