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SixThirty has made a multi-million Rand investment in Cape Town-based InsurTech company Click2Sure, marking the first time an African startup has caught the eye of the US-based tech venture fund.

SixThirty invests in early-stage enterprise technology companies building InsurTech, FinTech and Cybersecurity solutions. The investment will enable Click2Sure to further develop its product and ensure businesses offering insurance take advantage of the benefits of digitisation: omnichannel distribution, reduction in administration costs, and better decisions with real-time reporting and insights, explains Daniel Guasco, who co-founded Click2Sure in 2016.

“Another reason we are thrilled to have SixThirty on board is their Go-To-Market Summer programme, where we were introduced to key individuals, Executives and other Founders well placed in the US market within blue chip companies, to help us get a foot in the door, and mentor us on what the US market and stakeholders expect to see from a startup and technology partner,” says Guasco.

SixThirty’s investment in Click2Sure  was motivated by a recognition of the surprisingly low penetration of digital distribution in the insurance industry. Along with the forced digitalisation ushered in by COVID-19, SixThirty found Click2Sure’s exclusive focus as an enabler of digital distribution a key differentiator that can help it scale into new sectors and markets.

“Click2Sure doesn’t sell insurance. We provide our clients who sell insurance with a comprehensive cloud-based, digital platform for the distribution, management and purchasing of insurance at the point of sale,” explains Guasco.

Digitisation replaces the time-consuming manual process of filling in multiple page policy documents. It also means insurers can get new products to market much faster and diversify their revenue streams.

The customer-centric offering lets customers buy insurance through any digital channel, depending on their preferences. These could be web/mobi channels, WhatsApp, SMS, eCommerce, and QR Codes. This satisfies the modern customer’s need for accessibility, convenience and speed as insurance companies can provide almost immediate coverage via a mobile app for example.

Guasco, who was previously CEO of Groupon South Africa and the founding director of online group buying website Twangoo, says: “Digitisation has many benefits for consumers; being able to use digital channels increases accessibility for the under- and uninsured, enables customisation of insurance cover, and assists customers in getting the most affordable insurance cover.”

SixThirty joins Greenlight Reinsurance, another US based investor, amongst other investors, as capital partners in Click2Sure.