FSD Africa Impact KaroPay: ‘BimaLab accelerator refined our start-up idea’

The BimaLab accelerator, supported by FSD Africa and the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Kenya, provides training, mentorship, and policy advocacy to insurTech innovators in Africa. The program helped KaroPay, a Kenyan tech company, transition from a credit-focused model to one that integrates microinsurance with education savings. Specifically, KaroPay developed 'M-Soma', a savings product allowing parents to save for school fees while building a credit score for overdrafts, including a free life insurance cover to ensure children's continued education in the event of a parent's death. CEO Brian Ndege reports a "huge uptake" of these microinsurance policies during pilot phases in schools.

• Kenya's insurance market is characterized by very low penetration, with coverage levels below 3%, largely due to traditional providers offering expensive and inadequate products.
• The BimaLab accelerator, backed by FSD Africa and partners like the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) of Kenya, supports African insurTech innovators through training, mentorship, coaching, and policy advocacy to help them refine start-up ideas.
• Through BimaLab, KaroPay developed the M-Soma savings product, which enables parents to save as little as Sh10 for school fees, build a credit score for overdraft facilities, and receive free life insurance to protect their children's education.
• The BimaLab program enabled KaroPay to shift its focus from purely credit solutions to integrated insurance products, resulting in a "huge uptake" of microinsurance policies during school pilots.

APA

FSD Africa (n.d.). FSD Africa Impact KaroPay: ‘BimaLab accelerator refined our start-up idea’. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-Impact-BimaLab-Kenya-KaroPay-09.11.2023-2.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. FSD Africa Impact KaroPay: ‘BimaLab accelerator refined our start-up idea’. n.d. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-Impact-BimaLab-Kenya-KaroPay-09.11.2023-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=FSD Africa Impact KaroPay: ‘BimaLab accelerator refined our start-up idea’ |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-Impact-BimaLab-Kenya-KaroPay-09.11.2023-2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafricandfsd, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{FSD Africa Impact KaroPay: ‘BimaLab accelerator refined our start-up idea’}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-Impact-BimaLab-Kenya-KaroPay-09.11.2023-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }