Funding
Cassbana: Egyptian Lending App Raises US$ 1M from Disruptech
The Egyptian lending app, Cassbana, has reportedly raised US$1 million pre-seed investment round from Disruptech. This a fintech startup that using AI (artificial intelligence) powered approach to run a behavior-based credit scoring system for lenders. Other angel investors and fintech funds also participated.
Cassbana uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver financial services to the underserved and unbanked market in Egypt. They offer financial institutions and companies the opportunities to develop innovative lending and financial support solutions by means of analysing the behavioral patterns of their numerous customers to enable them make decisions.
According to Haitham Nassar, the founder and CEO of Cassbana, their goal is to create financial identities for the underserved and unbanked in Egypt, who most often cannot receive financing from their suppliers and service providers to scale their small businesses or pass through a difficult time in their business journey.
He continued, that instead of them being assumed to be of high default risk, “our financial identities offer them a chance to receive different financing options with a low risk of default.”
Cassbana says it is using the funds to grow the business and expand their operations in the local market as it looks to playing a role regionally and globally.
What we know is that, Cassbana launched its services on a trial basis in June, 2020. By then, they only had one service provider in Cairo, and thankfully now having more than 20 service providers in the Egyptian capital, the Nile Delta, and other cities, with plans to expand to Upper Egypt.
The CEO noted that they are aspiring to reach every corner in Egypt and to succeed in creating financial identities for one million customers before the end of 2021.
“We are happy to be leading this Pre-Seed round in Cassbana’s journey. The Egyptian Fintech ecosystem is one of the biggest worldwide, our role as a fund is to support Fintech companies from the beginning all the way through local and international IPOs.” -Mohamed Okasha, Head of the Disruptech Fund said.
He futher went on to appreciate the team at Cassbana by stating that, they at Disruptech have seen the fintech’s teamwork ethic first-hand and their growth over the past 6 months has been monumental to say the least.
He reveals, his venture capital firm (Disruptech) held an admiration for Cassbana’s strategic vision for both local and international growth, giving them reason to lead them in their first round of investment.
Have you recently launched your startup, raised funding or any news about your company or organization? Email your story to editor@thespiritedhub.com.
Funding
Curacel: Insurtech Startup Secures $450K Pre-seed Funding Led by Atlantica Ventures & Consonance
The insurtech startup, Curacel, an AI-powered platform for claims processing and fraud management in Africa, reports that it has raised $450,000 pre-seed funding in a round that was led by Atlantica Ventures and Consonance with participation from Kepple Ventures and other African angel investors.
The new investment will be used to accelerate Curacel’s expansion across Africa and facilitate the goal of becoming Africa’s premier provider of embedded finance technology for insurance.
The insurtech startup already works with some of the biggest insurers on the continent, including AXA Mansard, Liberty Health and Old Mutual, as well as more than 800 hospitals in Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda. It plans to expand into 10 new African countries by the end of 2021.
Every year, African insurers lose more than $12 billion to fraudulent, wasteful, and abusive claims. Curacel’s flagship CLAIMS platform acts as a bridge between primary care hospitals and Africa’s insurance companies, using advanced artificial intelligence to ensure that insurance companies only pay claims for the correct treatment, appropriate medications and recommended patient therapies.
Curacel is also scheduled to launch Curacel Capital, a cash advance product that makes it easier for healthcare providers to access working capital to mitigate financial challenges. Delayed payments and other inefficiencies in the payment process means many African healthcare providers often have to make the difficult choice between keeping the books balanced or providing healthcare at a loss. With Curacel Capital, healthcare providers can access lump sums of up to three times their average monthly billings, based on claims processed on the Curacel portal, ensuring that they can continue to deliver essential services without undue disruption.
With insurance penetration at just 2.8% across the continent, many Africans are one accident or health emergency away from poverty. And in Africa’s communal societies, tragedy impacts entire communities, with people emptying their savings to pay for medical expenses, burials or other disaster relief for family members and kin. By leveraging Curacel’s products and services, insurers across the continent are better equipped to close the insurance gap and safeguard prosperity.
According to Curacel Co-founder and CEO, Henry Mascot, in a press statement said,
“We are excited to have these investors on board and we are looking forward to partnering with them to drive our vision of improving insurance inclusion across Africa.”
At Curacel he shares, they are uniquely positioned to safeguard livelihoods and increase the quality of life through their unique, market-leading products and services.
IK Kanu, Partner at Atlantica Ventures noted that,
“The African insurance market represents a significant growth opportunity and we are delighted to be partnering with Curacel to drive growth in this sector. There is an opportunity to create an entirely new market of products and services here and we look forward to supporting the team to improve health outcomes across the continent.”
Finally, Mobolaji Adeoye, the Managing Partner at Consonance adds that they believe the Curacel team has what it takes to be market leaders and are therefore excited to support them. Also stressing that they have a great product and equally delighted to be coming onboard at this early stage of their growth.
