Naked Raises R700-million In Biggest Funding Round To Date

The funding round, which included existing investors such as Hollard and the International Finance Corporation, has drawn funding for the first time from BlueOrchard, a global impact investment firm.

The insurtech was launched in 2018 by actuaries Alex Thomson, Sumarie Greybe and Ernest North. It created a fully digital platform that uses automation to speed up the process of buying insurance and making claims after a loss - without the need to engage with a call centre agent.

Indeed, the firm claims it sells 100 of its card, home and single-item insurance policies online without any human intervention, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to make decisions.

Naked said the new funding will be used to "deepen" its investment in automation and AI, product and market expansion, and enhancing advertising to attract and grow its customer base.

"In simple terms, we are trying to build insurance that people actually like," Thomson said. "Our differentiator is how we use technology, trying to ensure we are leveraging modern technology as best we can."