Afrigather YuLife, a UK-based insurtech startup, has launched its operations in South Africa.
YuLife’s product choices embody a wellbeing app which harnesses the newest developments in behavioural science and sport mechanics to encourage workers to make proactive life-style adjustments, whereas prioritising prevention by de-risking people by wholesome actions.
The YuLife app allows workers to finish on a regular basis wellness actions comparable to strolling, meditation, and biking, to be able to earn YuCoin, YuLife’s digital wellbeing forex. Members can then use their YuCoin to purchase vouchers for groceries, information, gas, clothes and extra from main manufacturers, or to enhance the world by donating meals, planting bushes, or cleansing the ocean.
By incentivising wholesome residing, YuLife claims to offer employers with a strategy to concurrently enhance retention charges, enhance workers’ way of life, and safeguard their monetary future.
TechCabal caught up with the co-founders of YuLife, Josh Hart and Jaco Oosthuizen, to speak in regards to the insurtech startup’s arrival in South Africa, their $120 million fundraising, how they plan to traverse the aggressive SA insurance coverage panorama, and way more.
TechCabal: Please inform us extra about YuLife and the issue you are attempting to unravel along with your product providing.
Jaco Oosthuizen: Earlier than I joined YuLife, I labored for a South African insurance coverage firm for 20 years. I feel one of many massive points with insurance coverage is that it isn’t a product that folks wish to purchase.
You don’t get up within the morning and say, “I might love to purchase insurance coverage” and I feel that is without doubt one of the issues that we wish to change with YuLife since you actually need folks to like their insurance coverage firm. Our mission is to encourage life into life insurance coverage as a result of usually life insurance coverage corporations solely actually interact with the shopper when there’s one thing unhealthy taking place.
We wish to change that and really make insurance coverage a product that folks interact with on a day-to-day foundation. The opposite massive factor we wish to tackle is the difficulty of safety hole. There’s lots of people that want life insurance coverage, however they don’t have life insurance coverage, as a result of they don’t actually perceive it, they usually don’t actually interact their insurance coverage firm.
South Africa has the second highest insurance coverage penetration globally, making it an ideal marketplace for YuLife to broaden into and showcase its modern method to insurance coverage.
Josh Hart: So we are attempting to unravel all these points by our app. We’ve been very profitable within the UK. During the last 5 years, we have now bought insurance coverage safety to giant firms along with our app. Now we have managed to succeed in over 650,000 lives within the UK. Our 2,000 employer teams embody the likes of Tesco and Co Op, that are very giant corporations within the UK.
Final yr, we raised $120 million and on the again of that, we determined to additionally broaden out to different nations. We launched within the US final quarter and now we’re coming to South Africa.
TC: There may be at the moment a major quantity of competitors within the insurance coverage house in South Africa. How does YuLife plan on setting itself aside?
JO: I’d say SA has numerous insurance coverage corporations and numerous these corporations provide a little bit of a commoditized product. Among the corporations are actually taking a look at make you interact along with your well being each day, to mitigate the chance of you needing to say as a result of then that’s a win-win, proper? You don’t want to say since you’re more healthy. Everybody wins.
The problem with a few of these apps is that they’re fairly elitist and never for everybody. They’re mainly for the rich. YuLife, alternatively, is about altering the lives of everyone. Everyone will get rewarded. Everyone is unlocking their potential each day with regards to their well being both mentally, bodily and financially. And I feel that’s what makes us actually distinctive.
JH: I feel simply so as to add there, the UK market is as aggressive if no more than South Africa and we discovered that we landed extraordinarily properly there. Inside a three-year interval, we bought over 1,000 worker teams shopping for into our proposition as a result of there hadn’t been innovation within the Worker Advantages house in a very long time and other people had been able to embrace the innovation.
We’ve been speaking to numerous brokers and shoppers in South Africa and individuals are extraordinarily excited and excited by our proposition.
TC: What challenges do you foresee in your operations in South Africa and the way do you plan to traverse these distinctive challenges?
JO: One of many challenges we’ve been requested about is cell phone penetration within the nation as a result of folks want a smartphone to make use of our app. Over the previous couple of years, that has improved considerably and smartphone penetration is now above 90%, which is wonderful, really on this nation.
The opposite problem is the price of information within the nation notably within the decrease and center revenue teams. To deal with that, we have now a forex referred to as YuCoin. As prospects earn extra YuCoin, they are going to be capable to purchase information with that as properly. So I feel we shall be serving to everybody to interact with our app in addition to giving them information to make use of the app.
TC: YuLife raised $120 million in funding final yr. To begin with, do you imagine that the truth that you guys had been in a position to elevate that a lot in a downturn is a stamp of approval on the viability of your mannequin? Moreover, to what extent do you suppose the funding will assist YuLife set up a presence within the South African insurance coverage trade?
JO: The enterprise capital market has positively modified. I’ve personally seen numerous good concepts and companies that simply can’t elevate capital on this market. We had been very, very lucky to have the ability to elevate what we did. I feel we succeeded as a result of YuLife is a superb concept which addresses a worldwide drawback.
The capital has been extremely helpful in our growth to South Africa as a result of it signifies that we have now the flexibility to rent a group and actually proceed to construct a sturdy product.
JH: Maybe simply so as to add to that, the validity of the thought can be proven by the arrogance that buyers have in us. One among our most important buyers, and a really strategic investor, did a really intensive due diligence course of on us and nonetheless gave us a stamp of approval and invested regardless of the downturn. And I feel that’s an enormous stamp of approval to YuLife.
We imagine YuLife can change the trade and make it one the place folks would actually begin to love and interact with their insurance coverage firm. A whole lot of insurance coverage corporations globally wrestle with engagement. For instance, sometimes they ship you perhaps a couple of times a yr communications, and it’s primarily premium will increase, or adjustments in advantages or issues like that. Whereas with us, we interact every day, and I feel we’ve actually cracked that.
TC: Regardless of the excessive penetration of insurance coverage merchandise within the nation, there may be nonetheless a large disparity in protection between, for instance, the black and white populace. How does YuLife intend on addressing this?
JO: At YuLife, we promote our proposition to employer teams, and that’s inclusive of everybody within the employer group. So we don’t promote to people in the intervening time. So the employer makes the choice whether or not to purchase our product.
And I feel that’s one factor about our providing that’s totally different to another propositions as a result of it doesn’t matter who you might be within the firm, you possibly can have full entry to the app. Additionally, you will see the events that we partnered with, when it comes to the reward aspect, can be very inclusive. For instance, we partnered with Checkers and MTN to offer vouchers and which means we cater to all ranges of workers.
In accordance with the Monetary Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)’s 2022 Monetary Sector Outlook study, about 60% of South Africans alluded to having an insurance coverage product, and penetration of insurance coverage, measured utilizing premiums as a proportion of GDP, was 13.7% in 2020 —one of many highest on this planet.
With such an in depth and vibrant market, it is going to be fascinating to look at how the arrival of a participant like YuLife, whose product does diverge a bit from what’s accessible available in the market, will influence the trade.
