Kickstart Ventures, a corporate venture capital (CVC) firm wholly owned by Globe Telecom, is among the investors that poured in a total of $2.15 million to enable the expansion of microinsurance startup Ruralnet.
Gentree, Foxmont, and Kaya Founders also participated in the seed funding round.
“RuralNet genuinely understands their customers’ needs and ensures that their insurance coverage is aligned with the needs and realities of their lives,” Minette Navarette, president and co-founder of Kickstart Ventures, said in a statement. “Together, we strive to help provide Filipino’s the financial security they deserve.”
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Citing publicly available data, Kickstart Ventures pointed out how at only 2% insurance penetration in the Philippines fares with its neighboring countries Indonesia and Singapore. This prevents customers from achieving financial independence.
API-driven microinsurance distribution platform
RuralNet, which is based in Cebu, is a fully digital and API-driven microinsurance distribution platform. It operates as a digital middleware platform that helps partner financial institutions deliver in-person insurance better and faster, starting from enrollment all the way to processing claims.
The fresh funding will enable Ruralnet to expand CashKo, its brokerage that connects financial and retail partner institutions nationwide.
Justin Arcenas, founder of Ruralnet, recognizes that any cutting-edge technology still needs to be augmented with human resources.
“When our average customer is a 40-year-old married woman with three children but no smartphone, online interfacing doesn’t work,” Arcenas said.
RuralNet integrated digital technology at the backend while providing face-to-face services to clients from enrollment to claims processing. This ensures that they are able to track everything in real-time.
To date, RuralNet has partnered with 25 financial institutions to help deliver microinsurance to about 2 million Filipinos. With their expansion of “CashKo” to provide insurance coverage for SMEs, RuralNet targets to cover 200,000 to 300,000 employees within five years.