Kurinda

The insured population of Nigeria stands below 1%. The key contributing factors are access to service, pricing/cost, information, innovation, literacy level, data management, and regulation. The goal is to steadily grow this penetration percentage across the spectrum of available insurance products and services for individuals as well as small and medium businesses. 

These factors affect the penetration of insurance services in a plethora of ways. Insurance companies are not distributed enough for the people to access; current services do not generally permit granular offerings or payments which makes premiums too expensive; information about services and the value to offer ranks between low and nonexistent; the literacy level of the populace requires multiple approaches which would further stretch the combined budgets of insurance companies; innovation has been segmented to 'profitable' business areas and mainly focuses on urban areas; access to data by insurance companies remains a daunting and very costly challenge thereby stifling efforts to create a new category of services for underinsured and uninsured; regulatory interventions have been very low and much less adequate in tackling the ramifications of these problems.

Currently, most insurance companies and brokers are focused on commercial businesses and "compulsory" insurance coverage such as third-party car coverage. Recent regulations have further stifled tech interventions by shrinking opportunities to capitalize on the low-hanging fruits without obtaining some of the stringent licenses and permits imposed on the different levels of the insurance value chain.

The proposal is to aggregate the various offerings by the insurance companies and categorize them into relatable verticals and horizontals for prospects. This includes simplifying information about the products and services for quick analyses and comparisons for quick decision-making. The solution would use technology for better distribution such as USSD/SMS, mobile and web apps, and service platforms. As licensed service providers, this same solution will be used to granulate cost/pricing for prospects and existing service providers thereby growing accessibility to new subscribers and the addressable market. The Kurinda platform will also serve as a CRM tool for easier user management as well as to generate and provide detailed data and reports to the various stakeholders. Ultimately, multiple ATL and BTL channels in various local languages would be employed in driving traffic to the Kurinda platform.

Kurinda has four main pillars which include aggregating insurance products and services; granulating offerings and payments for subscribers; seamlessly managing customers, insurance companies, subscriptions, and claims processing; and providing data and reports to stakeholders in the value chain.

There are three main sides to the platform. The first is the management of all data entered into the platform and/or generated by the use of the platform. The data will be mapped and stored in silos for better management. Biodata will be stored differently from user-generated data. Reports and analyses obtained will be stored in a manner that's easily presentable to insurance companies and regulatory bodies as the needs may arise. Further, all access to the storage points would be strictly by APIs for all its attendant benefits.

The next is for the management of insurance companies. This is where all information pertaining to the insurance products and services will be managed from within the platform. Every insurance company would operate its account separately from the other. This is to ensure the privacy of all activities pertaining to each insurance company. There will be several subaccounts to enable each insurance company to manage products, services, and customers without leaving the platform.

The third side is for customer management. This is designed for individuals/families and SMEs/groups. This is to enable adequate servicing of the current catchment of customers while making room for the desired growth of the marketplace. As expected, each individual account will be operated separately from the other. In addition, instances where individual accounts need to connect to one another have been taken into consideration and mapped to the specific functions that make the connections necessary. This is especially important for managing family, group, and corporate accounts as they will contain several individual persons within their accounts. This is where payment options will be integrated to enable customers purchase insurance policies without leaving the platform. 

The platform will be accessible through USSD/SMS, mobile/Progressive Web App, and web browser. Customers without smartphones will access via USSD, while the mobile app/PWA is for smartphones and tablets. The web browser is generally for devices with a browser and access to the internet. SMS is for return communication.

Following the sheer number of uninsured and underinsured people in Nigeria, more than 99%, it is safe to presume that these people are cut across all socioeconomic classes.

The Upper and Upper-Middle classes have the tools to access insurance services and the wherewithal to reasonably afford the premiums for these services. Some of the reasons for apathy among them are the unavailability of time for the rigorous processes to purchase insurance policies, inadequate information about preferred insurance services, the absence of reliable platforms for a smooth subscription and claims service management, and access to corporate insurance through their employment and/or investments, among others. The platform will provide all-in-one access to products and services not covered within their existing policies by presenting them with all the information needed for them to make quick decisions to subscribe to policies and help them manage the entire policy lifecycle with minimum interference with their very busy schedules.

The Middle and Working Classes are somewhat similar to the Upper-Middle class vis-a-vis work/business schedules albeit with reasonably less capacity to pay for premiums in a single tranche. This is also the bracket where the people best appreciate the value that insurance provides. However, there is a large pool of those who harbor inherited biases and skepticism against insurance due to the failings of several moribund insurance companies that dashed the hopes of previous policyholders. This is made worse by the inadequate information to make comparisons and choose what best suits their desires. These very tech-savvy people will be best served by offering them a broad range of products and services to compare and choose from. They will also be the biggest subscribers to granulated payments as they will be able to tie the premiums to monthly incomes, helping them manage their personal and business budgets with minimal undue financial exposures. Further, these aspirational classes are those who would be best served by unbundling most of the products and services. For instance, home appliances, mobile, and computing devices are mostly bundled in burglary and/or home insurance. This singular challenge makes it difficult to have individuals to insure their, phones, wristwatches, TV sets, tablets, computers, refrigerators, etc as singular items being that they are bought separately, and buying policies for them individually may be cheaper for the person than insuring them all at once.

The Lower Class is the most needy, yet the most neglected by insurance services as a whole. These people generally earn daily or weekly and find it difficult to accumulate funds for anything outside immediate survival. These are the people the USSD service was designed for and the insurance offerings such as Health or Medical Insurance will be deliverable in the simplest, and yet effective, form. Payment for their services will be granulated and tokenized in small installments to enable smooth running. Sophisticated tech services have been substituted with simple, straightforward, and easy-to-use-and-understand processes. In addition, a dedicated part of the workforce will be aimed at servicing them across the country.

We are a diverse team of several disciplines including insurance professionals, software developers, business analysts, economists, product designers, and UI/UX designers. 

We have carried out several surveys online and person-to-person across several student communities and professional environments. We recorded nearly 2 thousand respondents across these communities. The online survey rewarded respondents with airtime for phone calls and internet data, while we visited 3 higher institutions with a combined population of about 60,000 students and 7,000 academic and non-academic staff as well as 5 insurance companies in Nigeria in Life,  and General insurance. The schools are the University of Lagos, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, and Federal College of Education Technical, Lagos. The insurance companies we partially demoed are Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Universal Insurance Plc, African Alliance Plc, and Wapic Insurance Plc, all in Lagos.

Each survey and demo was carried out at different levels of product design and development, and programming milestones. We have had 4 iterations and are on the fifth one. We are confident that we have achieved a market fit and problem-solution fit suitable for commercial launch.

We also engaged other collaborators such as the Nigerian Communications Commission and MTN Communications Plc. As the telecoms regulator and largest telco network, respectively, in Nigeria, they will play a great role in providing legitimate access to personal data for driving service uptake and marketing efforts. 

It is necessary to mention that we have extensive experience in the telecoms industry in Nigeria and across Africa.

We have developed 4 previous iterations and are on the fifth one. It is a modular platform with distinct parts that have been built and independently tested, but awaiting integration with the parts of the platform that are still in development.

The registration and data collection module has been built. The CRM and communications module has also been built and awaiting integration. The subscription and claims management module, which is the largest and most intricate module is still in development. The data analysis and report generation module is yet to commence development. This is the culmination of all the other modules as all activities on the platform will feed into this module for analysis and report generation. It is instructive to complete the development of all other modules to allow for the clearest, simplest and fastest approach to the development of this module.

We have not reached commercial launch yet.

One major reason for applying to Solve is to have access to the abundant resources within the MIT network. The value of a great network can never be overemphasized. 

We believe that by being a part of this network, we can always harness opportunities and collaborations better by virtue of the access to such vast resources within the network. 

Another key benefit we seek to earn from Solve is Business Mentorship. Several of the businesses and individuals within the network are experienced professionals who have braved different storms on their way to success. Learning the ropes from such resources would help to guide and shape our approach to the curve balls that every business must encounter on its own path to success. 9 whole months of personalized support from an MIT-backed network of professionals is inestimable by any measure, and Solve is the platform to access this opportunity.

Training, seminars, conferences, and the like are also key benefits to us. As a part of the network, we foresee opportunities at such gatherings. These may be for collaborations or commercial engagements, as have our sight on other African countries as we grow into the future.

As bootstrappers, we do believe that any opportunity for access to funding is a viable one. This opportunity that Solve brings, while not centered on funding alone, is one with such viability. Having observed other startups and their journeys to raising funds, we believe that joining this network will greatly improve our journey to successful fundraising whenever the need arises.

The current insurance market in Nigeria is essentially untapped. Technology has advanced to the degree that it should drive the penetration of insurance services across the country. Most insurance companies have no clear strategy for retail insurance. The likely cost to develop and implement a robust strategy may be prohibitive and no one company wants to undertake the investment at the risk of competition benefiting largely from it without a commensurate investment in the process. Hence, the great need for collaboration among competitors.

Our solution will provide the platform for such collaboration. As a marketplace where most retail products and services will be sold, insurance companies would have the opportunity to repurpose their branding and marketing efforts. 

Our business model includes a sign-on fee that is mainly targeted at driving awareness of the platform. In addition to this, the insurance companies may include "Available on Kurinda" in their marketing communication. While the insurance companies focus on developing their brand visibility, we focus on developing Kurinda's brand awareness and visibility. And when prospects access the platform, they make decisions based on what product or service best serves their needs vis-a-vis the brand that cuts through to them.

Further, the platform will manage their entire experience in a seamless way so the users do not have to go beyond the platform to be serviced. This approach takes off the burden of managing the complexities of customers which offers cost-savings to the insurance companies. The centralized customer service approach frees up resources for the insurance companies to invest in other business areas or make savings.

Thirdly, the platform further cost-savings to the IT infrastructure of the respective insurance companies. Our platform will manage subscription, claims, customer service, and provide reports and market data and analytics. The need for heavy investment in this regard will gradually reduce as they continue to maximize the offerings of the platform.

The platform is designed for all retail insurance products and services across the spectrum of Life, General/Non-Life and Health Insurance. Therefore, all insurance companies can outsource their sales efforts to Kurinda while they focus their energies on their brands and improve their product offerings for better competitiveness.

Our primary goal for the next year is to obtain the required license and go commercial. Next to this is to grow uptake and patronage. And we have a bouquet of offers to entice early signups to the platform.

The cost of obtaining a broker's license is not prohibitive. The process for obtaining one is where the work lies. We are looking at a 2-way approach; we apply for one. But should the process appear more cumbersome than previously estimated, we buy an existing license. By becoming brokers, we have unhindered access to sell all products and services of all insurance companies. Therefore, we will have a duly populated platform for signups to choose from Day 1.

To drive uptake, we plan to give lots of freebies to those who signup and purchase policies on the platform. Some of the freebies will be tied to signing up, while others will be reserved for when policies are purchased after signup. The freebies include airtime for calls or internet data and gift vouchers. For those who purchase policies, some of the benefits include discounts on premiums and bonuses for new signups and purchases using personal alphanumeric or QR codes.

We plan to persuade the insurance companies to pay the sign-on fee by demonstrating its value through our marketing and branding efforts, and how they stand to benefit greatly from it.

Within the next couple of years, we aim to be fully integrated into the fabric of the insurance industry as the go-to marketplace for insurance products and services.

We plan to engage market associations, commercial institutions, government institutions, trade unions, and professional bodies/associations to sign up as groups. There are several approaches to engaging this strategy which include acting as their broker and tailoring products and services to their specific needs, or brokering relationships between the insurance companies and themselves to be managed on the platform. These organizations are spread across Nigeria. The continuous engagement and delivery of insurance products and services to these bodies will boost uptake across the socioeconomic spectrum, which will entrench insurance cultures and practices in Nigeria.

We are yet to go commercial hence there is no real indicator for measurement per se. However, we have identified several indicators on the SDG list and are working out the necessary partnerships required to achieve these.

The 2 main areas we have identified are the Health and Agriculture sectors.

Our Theory of Change (ToC) is grounded on the recognition that new approaches are required to address root structural challenges, namely the relationships, mindsets, and behaviors of the key stakeholders in the insurance value chain. Following our analyses of the market, we find that the different levels of stakeholders must be carried along at various development stages.

Our first approach was to invite seasoned insurance experts who guided our research and product planning processes to align with market realities. After that step, we commenced engagement with various communities via the surveys we conducted. We built a small database of about 5,000 respondents whose interests we will harness upon commercial launch.

Further, we started to demo the various modules to insurance companies to ensure that our efforts are in line with and relevant to their challenges and market needs. The outcome of this helped us achieve the problem-solution fit as well as the market fit.

We have continued to engage with regulators to ensure that we do not contravene any regulations as we continue to develop the solution.We are

We are building an integrated platform that will employ SMS, USSD, web and mobile apps, and blockchain technology. Our platform is essentially being built with .Net framework with C# as the programming language. Some modules are being with Java and Javascript.

However, we are building knowing that we would be integrating legacy systems in use by the insurance companies.

We are an equal-opportunity business. We do not discriminate on any basis whatsoever. At the commencement of the project, we had 2 male leads and 3 female leads.

There are 3 major sides to our business model and all are primary to us.

The first side caters to persons, businesses, and groups. These are those who purchase insurance policies and be serviced on the platform. We serve them by availing them of all the products and services of the various insurance companies. The platform offers the ability to compare multiple products and services across different providers in the same category. We also plan to directly sign up large associations to the platform such as market associations and professional bodies.

The second side caters to the insurance companies whose products and services are uploaded and made available to prospects. The platform offers them the capacity to create, modify, and remove products and services as they see fit. Further, the platform can be white-labeled in whole or modules for their specific use.

The third side caters mainly to state governments that do not have an existing infrastructure to build health insurance services for their residents and indigenes. The platform can be white-labeled for this purpose.

As a licensed broker, there are statutory commissions earned from premiums paid for every insurance policy purchased. Further, insurance companies and state governments will pay fees for signups and white labeling.

In line with the common revenue models listed in the examples shown above, below is a list of models we would use; Entrepreneur support, Market intermediary, Employment, Low-income client, Cooperative, Market linkage, Service subsidization, and Organizational support.

We are yet to go commercial and have not started to raise funds. We have bootstrapped our expenses since we commenced development work. All salaries and emoluments have come from the Team Lead.

Funds are generated through other business endeavours.