Fo-Sho, the latest disruptive Fintech player to launch in SA, has introduced a first of its kind insurance product to make short-term insurance with long term benefits via self-insurance possible for everyone. The product is set to move from stealth mode into the spotlight when it publicly hits the market on November 30^th 2017.

Catapulted via the prestigious acceptance into the globally reknown Startupbootcamp Cape Town Accelerator, Fo-Sho proved its market viability in the early days of the programme by securing a local multimillion rand venture capital investment well ahead of the scheduled funding phase. Now market-ready, Fo-Sho will be launching with premium commitments in excess of R10 million, underwritten by A-rated Constantia insurance company, through a combined portfolio of SMME’s and emerging middle-class sign-ups.  

“Fo-Sho represents a breakthrough technology in the short-term insurance space where for the first time a tech platform combines proven insurance models with machine-learning linked to behavioral economics so that a socially validated methodology can be applied to insure clients in the fairest way. The result is the pooling of like-minded risk groups and a reduced risk of fraudulent claims - a major pain point for policy issuers - and subsequently giving issuers greater leeway to increase the amount of cash-backs paid to claim-free clients. We know that this will skyrocket to become the new norm in the industry,” indicates Zach George, co-MD of Startupbootcamp and an international Angel investor in tech ventures.

As early movers in the market, Fo-Sho a team of experts with over 50 years collective experience, have insightfully developed products that do not typically focus on chasing the churn, but rather growing the insurance market by making cover accessible and affordable to communities that are not currently adequately catered for in broad spectrum of income brackets.

“We know there is a need in the market place. Approximately 4.2 million people save more than R500 per month in SA, yet don’t have insurance. That’s R25 billion p/year that is saved but with an exponentially greater asset base that is simply not insured. On the lower or higher socio-economic spectrum, our research shows that barriers of distrust of large corporates and their bloated profit margins, or simply an inability to understand complex jargon, is resulting in an enormous population that are financially excluded from the benefits of being insured. We cannot attain our goals of financial equality or financial independence at scale if we don’t first fix critical financial tools and accessibility of these models, like insurance,” shares an impassioned Avi Naidoo, CEO of Fo-Sho.

How it works?

The Fo-Sho insurance product relies on policy holders forming groups with similar risk profiles to create savings pools to reduce the cost of risk financing and to mitigate excess payments in the event of a claim. The app gives the consumer the power to get insurance quickly, comfortably, and on their own terms in approximately 3 minutes. It’s intuitive, facilitates immediate price checking, and incentivizes inviting like-minded, risk-aligned friends to join and contribute to decreasing group premiums via a referral and bonus savings scheme.

There is no doubt that Fo-Sho is paving the way for a “counter intuitive” movement where reducing your premiums by up to half every 3 years is possible and where attaining the goal of being fully self-insured and exempt of paying premiums on a monthly basis, could be possible. The team is currently in discussion with a national retailer to improve their distribution mechanism as well as two financial institutions interested in including the product in their stable. 

“Fo-Sho is precisely the type of BEE investment opportunity we look for – the team are passionate, good people with incredible expertise and industry insight. Our investment has allowed them to focus on creating a business that is socially relevant to communities while tapping into a clear gap in the market. We know that beyond becoming an SA success story that will create employment, Fo-Sho will grow well within our international portfolio when they expand,” shares Dempsey Naidoo, social entrepreneur, BEE investor and director of Alpha Vista Systems, an Australian AI and big data startup.

There are 35 million adults in South Africa and only 15% of them have insurance – with another 15% that want insurance but can’t afford it. To see Fo-Sho in action and learn more about their mission to solve this, join the Startupbootcamp Demo Day on the 30^th November 2017 at Ratanga Junction by signing up at https://www.startupbootcamp.org/event/cape-town-demo-day/ .