Jubilee Group and FSD Africa’s BimaLab accelerator have partnered with 7 insurtech companies to develop affordable insurance products for small businesses, informal workers, farmers and low-income households in Kenya, with pilot programmes scheduled to begin in November 2026.
The partnership will bring the companies together with Jubilee for an eight-week product co-creation programme focused on digital insurance distribution, protection for small-business ecosystems, and services linking insurance with health and wellness. The initiative aims to develop products that reach customers who have traditionally had limited access to formal insurance.
The seven selected companies are Dukatech Solutions, Aura Insure Technologies, Inclusivity Solutions, DPE, Fiinovate, Agrails and Ibisa Network. They were selected through a competitive process involving alumni of the BimaLab Africa Insurtech Accelerator.
The programme comes amid a significant insurance coverage gap among small businesses in East Africa. The region has more than 10 million small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for over 70% of jobs, yet insurance penetration among the segment averages about 1%, according to the partnership announcement.
For businesses and households with limited financial reserves, illness, extreme weather and other unexpected events can disrupt income, deplete savings and threaten livelihoods. The partners will test products designed to make insurance more accessible through existing customer networks, digital platforms and everyday transactions.
“There is a large group of Kenyans who work, earn and run businesses every day but still have little or no insurance coverage,” said Juan Cazcarra, deputy group chief executive officer of Jubilee Group.
“We need to meet people where they are, with products that are affordable, relevant and simple to access,” Cazcarra said, adding that the partnership would allow Jubilee to test different products and distribution models before scaling the strongest solutions.
The programme will focus on three areas: low-cost bundled and embedded insurance distribution, insurance solutions for small-business ecosystems, and wellness and engagement models connecting customers to health and care services.
For Jubilee, the initiative provides an opportunity to combine its established insurance operations with the technology, specialised expertise and customer networks of insurtech companies. Embedding insurance into existing services and transactions could help the insurer reach customers who may be difficult to serve through conventional sales channels.
Jubilee follows Britam in backing insurance innovation
Jubilee’s partnership follows similar efforts by Britam to use technology partnerships and startup collaboration to develop new financial services products and expand insurance access. In February 2024, Britam launched BetaLab, an innovation hub designed to incubate insurtech and fintech startups and connect them with the insurer’s business units. The initiative aims to accelerate product development and identify technology-driven solutions to challenges in insurance distribution, claims processing and financial inclusion.
Britam subsequently expanded its innovation efforts through BetaLab’s startup incubation and investment activities, moving the hub to the Two Rivers International Finance and Innovation Centre special economic zone in April 2025. The company said the initiative was supporting startups developing solutions in areas including artificial intelligence-powered motor claims assessment, small-business financial management and insurance for boda boda riders.
Britam has also pursued embedded insurance through Britam Connect, integrating coverage into everyday transactions and digital services. Its offerings include personal accident cover for drivers using Little’s ride-hailing platform and insurance linked to mobile data purchases for boda boda riders. In March 2025, Britam said its embedded insurance solutions had covered more than 300,000 gig workers within a year of launch. The company has also reported that its Kinga ya Mkulima partnership with Majani Insurance Brokers covers 200,000 farmers and approximately 600,000 people, including dependants.
The initiatives illustrate how established insurers are exploring ways to distribute coverage through digital platforms, commercial partnerships and transactions that customers already use, rather than relying exclusively on conventional policy sales. Jubilee’s collaboration with FSD Africa’s BimaLab accelerator provides another route for testing these models, with seven companies bringing expertise in insurance technology, healthcare engagement, lending and climate-risk protection.
Seven insurtechs bring different insurance models
FSD Africa’s BimaLab programme aims to help insurance innovators move beyond product development and into commercial markets. By connecting established insurers with technology companies, the programme seeks to address barriers involving affordability, distribution and customer engagement.
“The challenge is not simply creating more insurance products. It is making sure those products reach people who need them, at a price they can afford and through channels they already use,” said Elias Omondi, principal for sustainable insurance at FSD Africa.
The selected companies will contribute different technologies and business models to the programme.
Dukatech Solutions will explore bundled and embedded insurance distribution through Shopokoa, its social protection platform serving waste pickers, refugees and informal-sector workers through curated food and shopping baskets. The company will draw on its existing customer and merchant network to explore ways of integrating insurance into services customers already access.
Aura Insure Technologies, a Dubai-based insurtech expanding into Africa, provides software-as-a-service underwriting and distribution tools for small businesses. Its application programming interfaces allow insurers and commercial partners to manage quoting, underwriting, customer onboarding, policy issuance, servicing and renewals digitally.
Inclusivity Solutions, headquartered in Cape Town and operating in more than 10 African countries, develops embedded insurance products for emerging consumers. Its ASPin platform supports insurance sales, policy administration, premium collection and claims management, enabling insurance providers to distribute products through existing digital and commercial channels.
Kenyan health engagement company DPE will contribute to the wellness and customer engagement workstream through its Interch platform, which uses SMS, WhatsApp and voice channels to connect households with health information and services. The company says its platform has supported access to trusted health information for more than 300,000 households.
Fiinovate will explore credit-linked insurance products through its FinHub and Fin Shield platforms. The company aims to identify opportunities to connect insurance protection with borrowing and other financial services, helping small businesses and borrowers manage risks that could affect their income or repayment capacity.
Agrails, a Kenyan generative AI and parametric technology company operating in more than three African countries, will explore insurance models linked to climate intelligence. Its climate data analysis, reporting and verification capabilities will support efforts to assess risks and develop protection products for customers exposed to weather-related events.
Ibisa Network, headquartered in Luxembourg and operating across Africa, develops parametric insurance for farmers and renewable energy operators. It uses satellite data and AI-driven analytics to support insurance products that can trigger automated payouts following extreme weather events, potentially reducing reliance on lengthy traditional claims assessments.
Pilots to begin in November
Jubilee will coordinate the programme through J-Hub, its innovation and technology arm, which develops and deploys digital and AI-powered solutions across the group.
The joint pilots are scheduled to begin in November 2026 following the eight-week co-creation phase. The partners will assess the proposed products and distribution models before determining which solutions can be scaled. Successful offerings could eventually be introduced in other East African markets as Jubilee seeks to expand its customer base and integrated financial services business.
BimaLab Africa, an initiative of FSD Africa, says it has supported 135 startups across 28 African countries over six years, helping develop more than 300 insurance solutions that have reached over 6.5 million underserved customers.
Jubilee Holdings, founded in 1937, provides insurance and investment solutions across East Africa. The group serves more than 1.4 million customers and beneficiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi.