The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Apr 2024

Pula builds embedded insurance products for smallholder farmers, distributing policies through a network of more than 100 partners such as NGOs, banks, governments and agricultural-input companies. Its products are designed via a digital actuary platform and underwritten by insurance and reinsurance companies, using historical weather and loss data to set premiums. Since 2015 the company has supported 15.4 million farmers across 22 countries and its insurer partners have paid nearly $40 million to roughly 900,000 farmers. Pula reports strong commercial metrics: an 80% renewal rate among farmer groups and aggregators and measured impacts including higher investment, yields and household savings. The company is expanding product lines to include livestock covers (a Nigeria pilot is underway with plans for Kenya) and is doubling down on growth in Asia and Latin America. Leadership includes co-founders Thomas Njeru and Rose Goslinga, both with agricultural backgrounds, and Pula pursues a "triple 100" goal to bring insurance to 100 million smallholders. Pula builds digital agricultural insurance products—notably an Area Yield Index Insurance—that leverage machine learning, crop‑cut experiments and weather and loss data to underwrite smallholder risk. The company distributes products via partnerships with banks, governments, agricultural input companies and NGOs rather than selling directly to farmers, embedding premiums into seasonal loans. Pula reports 50 insurance partners, six reinsurance partners and clients including the World Food Programme, Central Bank of Nigeria, the Zambian and Kenyan governments, One Acre Fund, Apollo Agriculture, Flour Mills and Export Trading Group. Founded in 2015 and co‑led by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru, the Kenyan startup has insured over 4.3 million farmers across 13 African markets. COVID‑19 helped Pula double its footprint and size, and the company plans to scale operations in its existing 13 markets and expand into Asia and Latin America. It recently closed a $6 million Series A to fund expansion and further develop its digital insurance products and partnerships.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2023

Victory Group farms Nile tilapia on Lake Victoria in Kenya under the Victory Farms brand and on Lake Kivu in Rwanda as Kivu Choice, selling fresh fish through more than 100 sales outlets to thousands of female market traders. The company expects to produce 30,000 tonnes of fish in 2026 and has focused on increasing production and operational efficiency since earlier investments. Founded in 2015, Victory Group has attracted prior capital including a $4 million AgDevCo investment in 2021 and a $35 million Series B in 2023. Current plans supported by the new financing include developing multiple new farming sites in Kenya and Rwanda and progressing early-stage establishment in Tanzania to expand regional supply and distribution.