Doage, a strategic advisory and commercialisation platform for Africa’s insurance technology ecosystem, has launched to help insurtech startups, insurers, investors and technology companies transform innovation into sustainable commercial growth across the continent.
Founded by insurance executive and entrepreneur Dominic Agesa Kavugwi, Doage is focused on addressing a growing gap in Africa’s innovation ecosystem – helping startups move beyond product development and fundraising to build commercially successful businesses.
The company works with insurtech startups, insurers, investors and technology businesses to commercialise innovative insurance solutions through go-to-market strategy, enterprise distribution, strategic partnerships, market entry, expansion and commercial growth advisory. The aim is to help businesses move from promising technology and successful funding rounds to customer acquisition, distribution and recurring revenue.
The company also plans to work with venture capital firms, development finance institutions and accelerator programmes to support portfolio companies after investment, helping translate invested capital into measurable commercial outcomes.
“Investors are very good at allocating capital. Accelerators are very good at identifying and preparing entrepreneurs. Insurers understand risk. Founders understand the problems they are solving. But there is still a question between all of them: who owns commercialisation?” Kavugwi said.
Beyond supporting African startups, Doage is developing what it calls an Africa-Global Insurtech Corridor, designed to connect African insurtech companies with international insurers, technology firms, investors and strategic partners.
The initiative will also support international insurtech companies seeking to enter African markets through local partnerships, commercialisation support and strategic market-entry advisory. The model is intended to give international companies a route into African markets without requiring them to build every element of their market infrastructure independently.
“The next phase of African InsurTech cannot only be about how many startups we accelerate or how much money we raise,” Kavugwi said. “We also have to ask how many sustainable insurance businesses we build, how much revenue they generate, how many markets they enter and ultimately how much enterprise value they create.”
