The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Nov 2023

Founded in 2017 by Matthew Elan Smith, Ndabenhle Junior Ngulube and Marnus van Heerden, Pineapple offers a peer-to-peer insurance platform that allows customers to cover everything from cellphones to bicycles with a simple picture taken in its app. The service is underwritten by Compass Insure and has attracted more than 13,000 members since launching publicly in July 2018, converting many of these into active home-contents policies. The company currently employs 12 people and expects to add roughly three more hires in the coming months. Management plans to use new capital to finalise and launch a motor-insurance product within the next six months. Pineapple is also in late-stage talks with a potential U.S. partner as it explores expansion beyond South Africa, an effort supported by one co-founder’s recent residency in the Hartford InsurTech Hub. The firm’s technology-first model and community pricing aim to reduce fraud and lower premiums for users, positioning it as a modern alternative to traditional insurers.