Pineapple, a South African insurtech startup that has grown by 200 percent in the last six months, has raised ZAR80 million (US$3.4 million) in Series A funding to expand further into the car insurance industry.
Pineapple, which was founded in 2018 and is a Google Launchpad Africa accelerator, allows users to get quotes and insurance on products by simply snapping a photo.
The startup raised funding around the time of its inception, and in 2019, it won US$1.5 million in the VentureClash competition in the United States, and it has now secured its Series A funding. Lireas Holdings, the ASISA ESD Fund, E4E, Vunani Capital, and the Old Mutual Enterprise & Supplier Development Fund are among the investors in the ZAR80 million (US$3.4 million) round.
Pineapple is to use the funds to expand deeper into the car insurance market, following a strong first six months of growth.
“We did not expect to grow by 200 per cent in the first 6 months of this year, but it goes to show that customer insurance purchase behavior is starting to shift online and that customers are becoming more astute as to the online ratings of insurance providers and not settling for second best with respect to customer experience,” said Pineapple co-founder Ndabenhle Ngulube.