Deadline: 26-Jan-22
The National Insurance Commission of Ghana, in partnership with FSD Africa and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH’s FSD component, invites promising insurance innovators and ventures to apply to the InnoLab InsurTech Accelerator Program.
Innovation within the insurance sector has been slow but is gaining tremendous traction. Organisations such as the National Insurance Commission (NIC) in Ghana are setting themselves up as catalysts of this innovation, not only because they are mandated to do so but because through the use of technology, insurance penetration to all, especially the underserved and excluded populations, will drive inclusive growth.
The challenges of providing insurance to lower-income population segments are similar to those of providing mainstream insurance: identifying, understanding, and connecting with customers; providing relevant products; and carrying out the administrative work of collecting premiums and paying claims.
Benefits
The InnoLab seeks to support startups in addressing gaps in scaling capacity through:
- Access to NIC expertise and resources
- Business advisory support;
- Technology platform support;
- Access to mentorship from a range of experts and high-profile mentors, representing a broad skills base;
- Connections that can support local investments, networking, navigation, showcasing and critical challenges support;
- Peer to peer support from the cohort group established through workshops, webinars and events;
- Pitch your innovative business solution during the Demo Day
Eligibility Criteria
- They aim to recruit ventures that have a unique, innovative business that brings social and/or commercial value to the insurance industry have a business solution focused on solving a compelling problem, economic or social.
- They strongly encourage climate-focused insurtechs and innovations addressing MSMEs to apply. Gender-balanced teams and solutions that incorporate a gender inclusion lens will have an added advantage.
- Eligible applicants will be scored against the following criteria:
- Innovation: Innovation is more than disruption; it’s about offering a new value proposition for the insurance industry. The solution should make innovative use of technology (hardware or software) as part of the business solution.
- Inclusivity: The InnoLab is increasingly interested in finding insurtech innovations that are filling market gaps and contributing to inclusion, (including, but not limited to, sectors such as agriculture, health, housing, renewable energy, etc. Applicants will be assessed on the degree to which their target market includes underserved people and the problem that the startup is aiming to solve.
- Scale Potential: They are looking for solutions that can be sustainable and have a noticeable impact on the millions of financially underserved people. They will review applicants’ growth model, internal capacity, growth strategy, and total addressable market.
- Traction: The applicant should have a working prototype of the solution (at a minimum) that is either in the market or ready-to-launch. It is important that a product or service be able to show some indication of traction. They will review the product or solution’s stage of development, the startup’s funding and/or revenue, existing customer base, and other indicators that show early-stage traction.
- Leadership: Finally, they are looking for applicants that have a set of strong values and a passion for learning and sharing insights for the benefits of entrepreneurs and the wider system and who can demonstrate through their application and at interview the following set of skills and competencies:
- A history of team and partnership working, including with users
- A strong focus on social impact aligned with principles of financial inclusion
- Expertise in applying disciplined innovation approaches
- An entrepreneurial approach
- Open-minded about adaptation
- Prepared to take informed and managed risks
- Commercial or business-minded
- Courageous and resilient
For more information, visit https://innolab-app.azurewebsites.net/