How is your business helping to solve the health, social, or economic challenges created by COVID19?
Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, macroeconomic instability and uncertain government policies have exacerbated challenges to developing robust private treatment centers and insurance options in many countries SSA countries.Penetration of private health insurance in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana remains very low as a result. Nearly half of all healthcare spending in Kenya is paid out of pocket, whereas in Nigeria, out-of-pocket expenses account for 95% of spending. In the midst of the current pandemic and resulting economic crisis, traditional channels used to distribute capital, insurance, and other financial products have been rendered obsolete due to social distancing and containment measures.Pngme is the first Pan-African data API. We currently have 10 clients and integration partners in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. Using our data infrastructure, we have launched a micro-loan partnership with Migo.Money and a COVID-19 health insurance product with MicroEnsure to over 5,000 users in our mobile app which is growing at 300 signups a day. Collaborating with insurance and capital providers to expedite the delivery of coverage, we will help to safeguard individuals against potential out-of pocket expenses they incur due to the crisis, while ensuring that they can continue to contribute to their economies. In line with our existing mission of promoting financial access, we are increasing the rate of partnership integrations and our coverage to maximize impact.
Does your business contribute most to recovery, response, or resilience?
Recovery - we're positioned to support in the recovery of those directly affected.
What is the stage of your product development?
I have a market-ready product/service. I could sell it to customers
What strengths does your team bring? Include skills and personal experience with the problem.
For 7 years, the Pngme team informally lent to small businesses and entrepreneurs in Tanzania. This experience allowed them to understand first-hand the problems borrowers faced accessing finance in emerging markets. Brendan Playford(Co-founder & CEO) MSci: Physics from University College London, 7+ years in Fintech experience including data science | machine learning expertise in reputational and risk based model in distributed graph-based systems.Cate Rung(Co-founder & COO) Ex-Uber channel lead for driver growth in US/CAN. Led D2C marketing for 5 years at energy startup acquired for $250m. Oversees Pngme’s global go-to-market strategy. Giovanni ValdenegroHead of Product with over 10 years of experience in product design. Designed the user experience of the world’s largest drone data marketplace at DroneDeploy. Dr. Ratul Saha: Lead data scientist and machine learning engineer. Ratul has a PhD in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore and wrote his thesis on Quantitative Model Checking for Distributed Probabilistic Systems. Ankit Mishra: Leads growth operations. Has worked for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the OECD. Ashley Wilson: Leads customer success. Has worked for both Google and Lyft and ensures the success of our client engagements.Gary Schwartz: 25-years experience developing technology solutions globally as principal and investor. President of international lenders’ association. Award-winning fintech author.
What countries do you operate in?
Pngme's is headquartered in the United States. It primarily operates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Current countries of operation include Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Legal subsidiaries are either approved or pending in these countries with closing timelines being in 1-2 weeks.
Is your company headquartered in a US "Opportunity Zone"?
No
