South Africa is now a market for UK insurtech startup YuLife
The UK-based insurtech business YuLife began operating in South Africa on the 17th of April, 2023.
One of YuLife’s product lines is a well-being app that uses the most recent developments in game design and behavioural research to motivate employees to adopt proactive lifestyle changes. Prevention is prioritised, and individuals are de-risked through healthy activities.
Employees can earn YuCoin, YuLife’s virtual well-being currency, by engaging in regular wellness activities like walking, meditation, and cycling using the YuLife app. Then, members can spend their YuCoin to get coupons from top brands for groceries, data, fuel, clothing, and more, or to make the world a better place by giving food, planting trees, or cleaning the ocean.
YuLife claims to provide companies with a solution to increase retention rates, raise the standard of living for workers, and ensure the financial security of their loved ones by incentivizing healthy living.
“There has been a significant movement toward employee health and wellbeing, and more businesses are including new initiatives and tools in their employee benefits programs. To give businesses an easy way to offer additional protection, YuLife is expanding into South Africa. “We’re excited to offer South African businesses and employees tangible value daily in an accessible, engaging, and deliverable manner,” said Jaco Oosthuizen, co-founder of YuLife and managing director of YuLife South Africa.
The premiums at YuLife have reportedly increased by more than five times year over year since its recent expansion into the US. The insurtech startup raised a $120 million Series C round in July 2022, with participation from T. Rowe Price and Dai-ichi Life, bringing the total amount of capital raised by the business to $206 million.
According to recent data, the South African life insurance market’s gross written premium was R598.4 billion (about $40.5 billion) in 2021 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of more than 5% between 2021 and 2026.
Oosthuizen claims that because South Africa has the second-highest insurance penetration in the world, it is the perfect market for YuLife to enter and promote its cutting-edge insurance strategy.
