Lumkani: insuring informal housing in South Africa

Lumkani is a company that distributes fire insurance policies, combined with the installation of an individual smoke detector. Lumkani has also developed other products such as funeral insurance (coverage of funeral costs for deaths of family members) and insurance against theft/burglary (in the pilot phase). Lumkani targets disadvantaged people in South Africa who live in informal housing and are much more vulnerable to natural hazards and domestic accidents.

Lumkani has experienced steady growth since 2018, but its activity has been hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis due to the strict lockdown imposed in South Africa. The company was completely unable to operate for over two months (March to May 2020) as all economic activities, even certain essential activities, stopped in the country. Lumkani was able to resume its activity in May/June 2020 as its product was considered essential.

The financing allocated to Lumkani is EUR 150,000 of financing from the Bridge Fund by Digital Africa. This loan will extend Lumkani’s runway by three to four months and will thereby allow it to continue its activities until the Series A funding, which has been delayed due to the health crisis.

The Bridge Fund by Digital Africa is a growth acceleration tool for start-ups and a solution in response to the increased financing difficulties related to the Covid-19 crisis.