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<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>SA’s best up and coming fintech startups sweated it out at a virtual demo day recently, where they had just 5 minutes each to convince a panel of judges that they should be part of the second phase of the <a href="https://www.alphacode.club/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AlphaCode Incubate</a> programme.</em></strong> </p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>The ten startups, which have just completed a three-month programme, competed for one of four places in an extended 6-month programme valued at almost R1,5 million each. Their success, which was validated by their ability to get traction in a short time, unlocks further funding of R500 000 each and tailored business support.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Says Andile Maseko, head of ecosystem development at AlphaCode, “Despite a tumultuous year, a number of entrepreneurs saw how they could fill a gap in the market for financial services and related industries. Those selected in the top four earned the opportunity for further funding and mentorship. The first part of the intensive programme focused on entrepreneurship and refining business models. The second phase will focus on revenue generation.”</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>In addition, these startups will be able to apply for seed capital from AlphaCode’s fund that invests in early-stage startups.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3><strong>The four promising businesses selected</strong></h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><a href="http://www.agrikool.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AgriCool</a>&nbsp;is an e-marketplace that links smallholding farmers and buyers to a fair and reliable market. It offers farmers access to finance, reliable information on improving their production, and it works with both formal and informal markets. Street vendors, retailers, the hospitality industry can get fresh produce delivered, saving them transportation costs.&nbsp;Founder: Zamokuhle Thwala.&nbsp;Video:&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/gyo-IOdzJ-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/gyo-IOdzJ-0</a></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><a href="https://www.mybento.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bento</a>&nbsp;is an out-of-the-box employee perks and benefits platform. It gives employers a simple and cost-effective solution to offer employee benefits without the cost and administrative burden. Employees are empowered to self-manage their benefits and perks which gives them freedom of choice over their remuneration structure and take-home pay.&nbsp;Co-founders: Claudia Snyman, Dennis Williams, Bryn Divey and Ross Horak.&nbsp;Video:&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/4FU_1buiYYQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/4FU_1buiYYQ</a></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><a href="https://www.alphacode.club/news/imfuyo-technologies-empowers-farmers-with-improved-oversight-of-their-operations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Imfuyo Technologies</a>&nbsp;is developing a smart farming solution that will give livestock farmers better oversight of their operations at viable cost points. The initial offering will consist of a smart&nbsp;tracker that will collect critical data about cattle location and behaviour. The data is analysed to enable farmers to optimise farming activities. The platform will also serve as a de facto cattle deeds office, providing better traceability across the beef production value chain.&nbsp;Through Imfuyo Technologies, livestock farmers also have better access to financial markets.&nbsp;Founder: Allasandro Da Gama.&nbsp;Video:&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/jSJzGvspE6g" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/jSJzGvspE6g</a></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><a href="http://matchkit.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MatchKit.co</a>&nbsp;helps athletes better commercialise their careers. The platform helps athletes make money, regardless of the status of&nbsp;sporting events. It integrates into&nbsp;existing social media channels and stats to&nbsp;showcase the value of an athlete’s digital audience&nbsp;to potential sponsors. It also offers a plug-and-play e-commerce store where fans can purchase everything from bespoke, branded merchandise to personalised video and audio shout-outs. MatchKit.co plans to add insurtech and transactional / virtual card capabilities to their offering.&nbsp;Founders: Mike Sharman, Shaka Sisulu, Bryan Habana and Ben Karpinski. Video:<a href="https://youtu.be/qKR1IM0QckQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/qKR1IM0QckQ</a></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Dominique Collett, head of AlphaCode and a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rmih.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rand Merchant Investments Holdings</a>&nbsp;(RMI) executive commented,&nbsp;“We have been very impressed with the level of drive of these ten startups who applied what they have learned on the AlphaCode Incubate programme as they focused on increased traction. The standard of these ideas gets better every year. It’s been a very intense time for the participants and we look forward to growing the four businesses.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Almost 200 fintech businesses initially applied for AlphaCode’s Incubate programme which aims to grow innovative financial services entrepreneurs and find the next OUTsurance or Discovery.&nbsp; Only ten were then selected to complete in the initial three-month programme that provided funding, guidance from performance coaches and a panel of advisory experts, access to AlphaCode’s co-working space, and opportunities to apply for further early-stage investment.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>The panel of judges included Willem Roos, former CEO of Rain and former founder of OUTsurance; Raymond Ndlovu, CEO of Community Investment Ventures with a stake in Vumatel; Dominique Collett, a fintech specialist and senior investment executive at RMI; Danie Matthee, the CEO of OUTsurance; and Mcebo Ntombela, investment manager at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bafokengholdings.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Bafokeng Holdings</a>. “The panel had a good mix of entrepreneurs and corporate execs who understand the digital landscape,” explained Maseko.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>One of the judges, Raymond Ndlovu, added, “The mix of businesses presenting this year was fascinating - a bit of everything from crypto to sports to stokvels and car repairs. The presentations were of a high standard taking into account the fact that we were all online. Look forward to the growth of all these promising businesses - whether they were selected for further incubation or not.”</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>The AlphaCode Incubate programme has disbursed R32 million in funding to 31 black-owned financial services businesses over the past five years and is viewed as South Africa’s most prestigious fintech startup initiative.&nbsp;</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>AlphaCode Incubate awards entrepreneurial packages to South Africa’s most promising financial services startups through AlphaCode with the support of Rand Merchant Investments and Royal Bafokeng Holdings.&nbsp;</p><!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Click2Sure</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>Dog and cat owners take out pet insurance to cover the costs that might arise from having a pet – accidental injuries, veterinary surgeries, prescribed medications. When it comes to households with more than one pet – two cats, a dog – these costs can really mount up.</em></strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>So while it’s still a relatively small sector of the insurance industry, pet insurance is growing fast with the global pet insurance market set to reach a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/20/2036190/0/en/Pet-Insurance-Market-to-Rise-at-8-CAGR-till-2026-Increasing-Awareness-Regarding-Animal-Health-and-Well-being-Will-Bode-Well-for-the-Market-says-Fortune-Business-Insights.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">value of USD 11.25 billion</a>&nbsp;by the end of 2026. In South Africa, this trend is reflected- by the end of 2019, one South African insurer said that over 60% of households it insured had pet insurance, covering more than 100 000 pets.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>“The growth of pets as a retail category has been exponential, as has the related growth of pet insurance. As one of the leading insurance SaaS platform enablers, we enable both insurers and affinity partners such as pet stores, vets or pet food suppliers to drive increased customer satisfaction and incremental revenues and profits.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielguasco/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daniel Guasco</a>, Click2Sure founder.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Read on if you are:</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:list --><ul><li>An&nbsp;<strong>insurer</strong>&nbsp;offering pet insurance but looking for a better way to do it.</li><li>An&nbsp;<strong>insurer</strong>&nbsp;who’d like to add digital pet insurance to your customer offering.</li><li>A&nbsp;<strong>brand&nbsp;</strong>passionate about pet welfare and care wanting to deepen the relationship with your customers (and bring in some extra revenue)</li></ul><!-- /wp:list --><!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --><h4>Why the sustained growth in pet insurance?&nbsp;</h4><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>We can speculate that it’s because pets are increasingly becoming much-loved family members, with more and more households feeling a responsibility to grant their animals the same right to medical care as they do their human family members.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Also, during the global pandemic, the bonds between pets and humans have grown stronger. With lockdowns and the new work-from-home lifestyle, more single people have adopted pets – and all of us have spent much more time with our cats or dogs, making us more aware of their welfare. Whether our pet is a pedigree breed or a “street special” with a missing ear and a weird bark, we love them the same – and want to be able to rush them to the vet when needed, without worrying about money.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>There’s a more technical reason, which is that pet insurance has become more widely visible to consumers, as well as faster and easier to take out, thanks to the fast-growing trend of&nbsp;<strong>embedded insuranc</strong>e. This is technology that enables a digital insurance offering to be built into almost any transaction at the point of sale. Two examples:</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:list --><ul><li>You pick up a bag of dog food from the supermarket and there’s a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6780738497851465728/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">QR code on the pack</a>&nbsp;and an invitation to scan it with your phone and take out pet insurance, with a free month to start (it’s so easy to take up the offer, you think why not?).</li><li>You choose a Rogz harness and leash at the vet, and see that it’s tagged with an offer to take out pet insurance as a Value Added Service (this makes you think about what dog walks can entail, like speeding drivers or encounters with non-leashed dogs; you decide to take out insurance).</li></ul><!-- /wp:list --><!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --><h4>What makes embedded insurance more compelling than traditional insurance?</h4><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Unlike traditional insurance which is something they might look into later, whenever they get around to it, embedded insurance is offered to consumers when it feels most relevant to them – in the case of pet insurance, just they are shopping for their pets and most likely to have their welfare top of mind, as the above examples show. Since it’s relevant, they are interested – and since it’s easy to apply with a few simple clicks, they do. So, psychology plus convenience are driving what is predicted to be a<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/embedded-insurance-3-trillion-market-opportunity-could-simon-torrance/">&nbsp;$3 trillion embedded insurance market globally.</a></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --><h4>Three important thoughts to leave you with:</h4><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:list --><ul><li>As the world continues to worry about Covid-19,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teleperformance.com/en-us/insights/blog/2021-customer-service-key-trend-empathy-is-the-star">trend analysis shows&nbsp;</a>there is a great need for brands to demonstrate more<strong>&nbsp;empathy</strong>&nbsp;to consumers; offering easy pet insurance is a way to show empathy for both consumers and their “fur babies”</li><li>Given the sustained growth of both pet insurance and embedded insurance, there is significant&nbsp;<strong>revenue&nbsp;</strong>potential in positioning yourself where the two meet.</li><li>Whether you’re a traditional insurer looking for a digital pet insurance partner, or a company passionate about increasing insurance cover for South African pets, we can launch your new offering in&nbsp;<strong>30 days.</strong></li></ul><!-- /wp:list --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Call +27 (10) 045 4019 or e-mail&nbsp;<a href="mailto:hello@click2sure.co.za" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hello@click2sure.co.za</a>&nbsp;if this is an opportunity you’d like to look into (ahead of competitors).</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph -->