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Insurtech infrastructure company Curacel — an AI-powered platform for claims processing and fraud management in Africa — has just announced a raise of a $450,000 pre-seed funding round to accelerate product development and expansion efforts for the startup across the African continent. According to a press release shared with AfroTech, the funding round was led by Atlantica Ventures and Consonance with participation from Kepple Ventures and other African angel investors. Curacel — which was originally founded in 2018 — reveals that the new funding will be used to help facilitate Curacel’s goal of becoming Africa’s premier provider of embedded finance technology for insurance and drive insurance inclusion across 10 new African countries by the end of 2021. “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,” Curacel co-founder and CEO, Henry Mascot shares in a...
Loop — an Insurtech startup led by John Henry and Carey Anne Nadeau — announced today that it has raised $3.25 million in seed funding. According to its website, Loop is “building an inclusive future for auto insurance.” In their announcement, they stated: “Loop, a B-Corp auto insurance MGA that leverages AI, big data, and telematics to create more fairly priced insurance products, announced today it has closed a $3.25M seed round led by Freestyle VC, with participation from Blue Fog Capital, Fontinalis Capital Partners, Concrete Rose, Uprising Ventures, and Backstage Capital.” After the events surrounding the death of George Floyd, Nadeau and Henry partnered in July of 2020 to embark on something more meaningful. “We believe there’s a large market opportunity in pricing people more fairly and building a community-first brand in the auto insurance space,” Henry said in a statement. Nadeau, co-founder and co-CEO of Loop, also added: “The technology and data to assess risk more...
Modern life insurance startup Ethos recently announced they’ve raised $35 million in a Series B round of funding. The company’s method of providing online and mobile sales channels provided by the Lincoln, Neb.-based life insurance company, Assurity Life, seems to be working as this amount has significantly increased since their Series A round of $11.5 million. The previous round came from Will Smith’s Smith Family Circle ; Robert Downey Jr.’s Downey Ventures ; Kevin Durant’s Durant Company ; Arrive, a subsidiary of Jay Z’s Roc Nation ; and leading Silicon Valley investment firm Sequoia Capital. The new investment from Google Ventures (GV) and returning investors, Sequoia Capital and Arrive, was led by Accel Partners. Accel’s Nate Niparko will join the Ethos board of directors and GV General Partner, Tyson Clark, will join as an advisor. The non-commission-based insurance company prides itself on being a more equitable provider by offering term life insurance that only requires...
Access to resources is one of the most significant barriers to entry for Black entrepreneurs. Whether it is a lack of funding or a gap in training, Black business owners have often found it challenging to tap into the same level of success–at the same rate– as some of their racial counterparts. Northwestern Mutual , a leading financial services company which has been helping people and businesses achieve financial security for more than 160 years, acknowledges this systemic challenge and is committed to investment opportunities that will help reduce the racial wealth gap. One program the company has stood up, its Black Founder Accelerator program, furthers its commitment to championing diversity, equity and inclusion. Based on recent research, Black founders receive less than two percent of venture capital funds. Northwestern Mutual is stepping in and offering each eligible entrepreneur a $100,000 investment and inclusion in a 12-week intensive program. As part of the accelerator,...
If you’re looking for the venture capital (VC) arm of Roc Nation to invest in your business, you’re going to need a lot more than brunch with Jay-Z. That’s according to Neil Sirni, the co-founder and president of Arrive — the formal name of the VC arm — who spoke extensively to TechCrunch about what his firm looks for before writing that check. “We gravitate toward companies that we can provide meaningful assistance to but that are outside of Roc Nation’s core industries of music and traditional sports,” he said to the outlet. “To date, we’ve made 29 investments under the Arrive umbrella in everything from fintech, insurtech, edtech, health & wellness, social, and gaming. Geographically, we’re investing roughly 80% in North America, primarily the U.S., and 20% across Southeast Asia, namely, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam. As a strategic investor, we never lead deals and always co-invest.” This is the first interview that Sirni gave about the Roc Nation VC arm, and he said that he...
When Kevin Durant isn’t sinking threes on the court, he’s building out his portfolio with some lucrative investments, partnerships, and sponsorships. Now, the NBA player is adding “designer” to his resumé with his new investments in the headphone company, Master & Dynamic, according to The Verge. Master & Dynamic adds to Durant’s portfolio that already includes life insurance startup, Ethos, which is backed by celebrities like Will Smith, plus Robert Downey Jr. and Jay-Z’s, Roc Nation. Durant has also invested in Acorns, Postmates, and The Players’ Tribune . Durant told the Verge that his investment in Master & Dynamic comes from his love of music. “Music is such a huge part of my life,” Durant said to The Verge. “That their products have become an important part of my day-to-day, and I’m looking forward to some amazing collaboration between our teams.” Although the partnership is new, the company has already worked with his mother, Wanda Durant, for a feature on their website about...
Will Smith is no stranger to the tech world. Last year, Smith — along with Jay-Z and Kevin Durant — invested in Ethos , a modern life insurance start up. But recently, Smith turned his eyes onto a new investment opportunity. Smith’s Dreamers Fund is investing in esports organization Gen.G, which raised $46 million in its most recent round of funding. The Dreamers Fund is a partnership between Smith and Japanese professional soccer player, Keisuke Honda. In a statement , Honda shared that although esports is not yet popular in Japan, it is seeing tremendous growth there and globally. He added, “We decided to invest in Gen.G because of their incredible team and grand vision to became a leader in the space. We truly look forward to working with Gen.G to boost the esports industry around the world.” Other investors include Los Angeles Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong, Conductive Ventures, Battery Ventures and a list of other professional athletes and entertainers. “This is an...
Rap icon, Snoop Dogg is investing in Klarna, a Swedish online payment platform. Klarna is now one of Europe’s largest banks and provides payment solutions for shoppers across 100,000 retailers in 14 countries. The unicorn is valued at more than $2.5 billion. “I’ve been looking for an opportunity to expand my tech investment portfolio to Europe and seeing the way Klarna operates and how they challenge the status quo, I think it’s a match made in heaven,” Snoop Dogg said in a press release. Snoop is set to be the face of the company’s latest “Smoooth Dogg” advertising campaign. “Snoop is not only a rap legend, but also a successful businessman, with a genuine interest in tech, retail and e-commerce,” Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in a press release. “Teaming up with one of the smooothest persons alive, opens new doors to Klarna as we grow and develop as a company.” The rapper joins other artists like Jay-Z in the world of venture capital. Jay-Z’s firm Arrive targets...