5
Summary
Type
VC-backed Scale-up
My Role
Digital Consultant
Business Model
B2B2C micro-insurance
Location
Nairobi
Engagement
3 months
Core Brief
Build a new venture
In 2025 I joined Turaco, a Nairobi-based micro-insurance startup, as a Digital Consultant during a period of rapid growth. My work focused on strengthening internal operations and supporting strategic initiatives tied to Turaco’s embedded insurance model. I worked closely with the CEO and functional leads to improve how insurance products were structured, priced, and delivered through partnerships with organizations like M-KOPA, banks, and MFIs. While not embedded in the tech team, I contributed to refining policy terms, validating actuarial models, and collecting customer feedback into the product design process.
Go-to-market
Turaco heavily relies on strategic partnerships to reach scale — working with organizations like M-KOPA, banks, and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) to embed insurance into their existing customer journeys. While the partnerships team led these efforts, I supported with internal readiness, helping align back-office systems to new distribution models and prepping materials that could be tailored to each partner’s onboarding and training workflows.
Product & Design
My role had limited exposure to technical product development. Instead, I focused more on the insurance product itself — contributing to how policies were structured, refining terms and conditions, and working alongside actuaries to validate pricing assumptions. I also helped incorporate customer feedback from call centers and field reps to refine policy design and claims experience.
Lessons & Resources
Sales cycles in this space are long and relationship-driven — often hinging on the personal trust built with decision-makers inside partner organizations. Additionally, direction at a company like Turaco can shift quickly as new partnerships or regulatory constraints emerge. I learned to adapt quickly and not over-plan, keeping deliverables lean and actionable as things changed week to week.