About the fund
BimaLab Africa was launched in 2020 by FSD Africa, the UK FCDO-backed financial sector development organisation headquartered in Nairobi, in response to a structural market failure: insurance penetration in Africa stands below 3% of GDP, against a global average of 7%, leaving an estimated 80% protection gap for natural disasters and economic shocks, disproportionately affecting low-income, rural, and climate-vulnerable communities. The programme operates as a six-month equity-free accelerator providing structured learning, mentorship, regulatory guidance, and investor matchmaking to early-, growth-, and scaling-stage insurtech startups across Africa. Since its launch, BimaLab has supported 63+ startups, facilitated three regulatory sandboxes, enabled over $10M in investor funding to 10 ventures, and contributed to the development of 40 products reaching over 3 million new customers. Four cohorts have completed the programme as of 2025, with the 2025 edition marking its fifth cohort. The 2025 cohort spans 25 countries across the continent. The programme is organised across four thematic pipelines — BimaLab Climate, BimaLab SMEs, BimaLab Health, and BimaLab 2X (gender) — and selects up to 35 startups per cohort. Swiss Re Foundation committed $600,000 to expand the programme's reach to 15 African countries from 2023 through 2025. Regulatory engagement is a defining feature: BimaLab works directly with insurance supervisory authorities across Africa to create sandbox environments that allow startups to test products outside standard licensing constraints. The programme has built a pipeline of 135 early-stage insurtech businesses, which FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) cited as a key rationale for its cornerstone investment in 3IF Ventures' $30M Inclusive Insurance Investment Fund — the first dedicated African insurtech venture fund — at its $12M first close in June 2026. Illustrative alumni include ACRE Africa, Turaco, mTek Services, Malipo Circles, WellaHealth, and Octamile.
Swiss Re
