Investment in AiCare, a provider of telematics insurance system in Kenya.
May 26, 2021
Toyota Tsusho Corporation (“Toyota Tsusho”) and its group company CFAO SAS (“CFAO”) decided to invest in AiCare Group, Inc. (“AiCare”), a provider of telematics insurance system for insurance companies in Kenya. The investment will be engaged by Mobility 54 Investment SAS (“Mobility 54”) - a corporate venture capital subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho group which was jointly established in October 2019, through the convertible notes investment.
1. Background
In Kenya, it is compulsory for every car-owner to subscribe motor insurances, and approximately 3 million vehicles are insured today. Insurance premium rates are generally determined based on the value of the vehicle with single and flat rates, irrespective of driver’s driving characteristics and behaviors.
For that reason, it is considered that good drivers are bearing relatively higher premiums as compared to their driving behaviors and accident risk. In addition, single and flat insurance premiums may not contribute as an incentive for safe driving, and are less effective in preventing traffic accidents. As a result, motor insurances have become a riskier product for insurance companies compared to other insurance products.
These challenges can be seen in other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as well. The optimized motor insurance for each driver which is enabled by the real-time information on the distance traveled by each vehicle and the driving behaviors of each driver is therefore expected to transform the motor insurance sector in Africa and consequently to reduce the traffic accidents in the continent.
2. About AiCare
AiCare has developed an in-house technology that uses the automobile driving data and driving behavior data to calculate the driver's accident risk and quantify a risk score for insurance products led by the company’s founders who have specialized AI and machine learning. Insurance companies may use the score provided by AiCare -- instead of developing and investing in the technology from scratch -- to offer their own telematics insurance products to its customers.
Furthermore, the data analysis by AiCare system takes into consideration Africa's unique road conditions and the way vehicles are driven -- such as excluding the detection of vibrations caused by the road surface conditions and sudden steering from the accident risk calculation data – which enables to provide insurance companies with more practical and appropriate accident risk analysis for its customers in Africa.
3. Future business development through investment and collaboration with AiCare
The investment in AiCare is aimed at providing better quality insurance services to drivers by accelerating the penetration of telematics insurance in the African insurance sector. Toyota Tsusho group will help AiCare’s telematics insurance system to be deployed on Pan-Africa basis by fully leveraging its vast automotive network in Africa.
In addition, telematics insurance has a significant potential synergy with the connected services that may emerge across the continent in the coming years. Toyota Tsusho group will continue to pursue a safe and better mobility society in Africa by promoting the collaboration of telematics insurance and connected services.
■AiCare system diagram
