“Insurance Meets Tech: Driving Nigeria’s Startup Surge”

The narrative around Nigeria’s insurance industry has shifted dramatically over the last few years, thanks in large part to the accelerating rise of Insurtech and the growing synergy between insurance and technology. Once a sector struggling with low penetration, poor consumer trust, and outdated infrastructure, insurance in Nigeria is undergoing a quiet digital revolution, driven by startups, innovation hubs, and a pivotal annual event: the Insurance Meets Tech (IMT) Conference.

As Insurtech firms push boundaries with digital solutions and embedded coverage, the IMT Conference has become a catalyst for these changes, nurturing a vibrant ecosystem where insurers, founders, regulators, investors, and developers converge to reimagine the future of risk protection in Africa’s largest economy.

A Sector on the Sidelines

For decades, insurance lagged behind fintech in innovation and public adoption. With penetration rates hovering around a meagre 0.5%, the Nigerian insurance sector was seen as too slow, too traditional, and too rigid to adapt to the needs of a youthful, mobile-first population.

But between 2020 and 2025, a new wave of Insurtech startups began to challenge that status quo. Companies like Curacel, MyCover.ai, Octamile, and Cassava Smartech leveraged APIs, AI, and mobile technology to simplify insurance distribution, integrate policies into digital platforms, and offer on-demand microinsurance to underserved segments.

This movement was no accident—it was nurtured in part by conversations, partnerships, and visibility made possible through the annual Insurance Meets Tech Conference, first launched in 2021.

The IMT Conference: Lighting the Fuse

Hosted annually in Lagos, the Insurance Meets Tech Conference has grown into Nigeria’s premier Insurtech gathering. Each year, it brings together thousands of stakeholders across the insurance, tech, policy, and investment communities to explore how digital innovation can transform risk management and financial inclusion.

From panel sessions and live demos to deal-making and policy roundtables, IMT has:

• Facilitated Partnerships: Many successful collaborations between traditional underwriters and tech startups trace their roots to introductions made at IMT events.
• Amplified Innovation: The conference’s startup pitch sessions have spotlighted emerging Insurtechs, securing them access to venture capital and mentorship.
• Informed Regulation: The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and key policymakers have used IMT as a platform to engage industry players and roll out regulatory sandboxes and innovation frameworks.
• Enabled Cross-Sector Integration: By inviting fintechs, healthtechs, mobility and logistics players, IMT has broken silos and helped embed insurance across various digital services.

In the words of a past speaker, “IMT is not just a conference; it’s the nucleus of Nigeria’s digital insurance awakening.”

Insurtech’s Impact on the Wider Startup Ecosystem

As Insurtechs gained traction, their ripple effects began to reshape the Nigerian startup landscape:

• Risk Management as a Service: Today, logistics firms can insure each delivery in real time, ride-hailing platforms can offer drivers bundled coverage, and agritech apps provide farmers with crop insurance, all powered by digital platforms that debuted or evolved through IMT exposure.
• Revenue Diversification: Startups now integrate Insurtech APIs to embed insurance in their offerings, creating new monetization channels while boosting customer trust.
• Investor Confidence: The visible growth and structure around Insurtech, helped by the IMT conference’s consistent advocacy, has restored investor confidence in a historically overlooked segment of Nigeria’s financial services industry.
• Talent Pipeline: IMT has also contributed to grooming a new generation of professionals and tech entrepreneurs excited to innovate within the insurance space.

Looking Ahead: From Conference Conversations to Industry Convergence

As Nigeria’s economy adjusts to macroeconomic shifts, exchange rate volatility, rising inflation, and digital transformation, the insurance industry, long an underperformer, is now showing signs of promise.

Thanks to consistent advocacy and collaboration fostered by Insurance Meets Tech, the digital insurance narrative has moved from theory to practice, and from pilot to profitability.

Going forward, the goal is clear: to deepen penetration, expand inclusive coverage, and continue integrating insurance into everyday digital experiences, from wallets to marketplaces, mobility to healthcare.

And as stakeholders gear up for the 2025 edition of the IMT Conference, expectations are high that this gathering will again push boundaries, inspire solutions, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as Africa’s leading Insurtech frontier.

From sparking critical partnerships to spotlighting innovators and influencing policy, the Insurance Meets Tech Conference has been instrumental in repositioning insurance as a tech-forward, growth-driven sector. In doing so, it hasn’t just elevated Insurtech, it’s helping shape the future of Nigeria’s startup economy itself.

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