UNITED Kingdom based insuretech YuLife comes to South Africa not only to disrupt the market but to ‘enjoy the sun’.
The new group life insurer has entered the burgeoning insurance market in mzansi, to aid with mental awareness to employees amongst others.
Established in London in 2016, YuLife achieved rapid traction in the UK insurance market through its flagship product, group life insurance, therefore the expansion into South Africa, the first on the African continent- marks a significant milestone as it seeks to redefine how people around the world derive value from financial products.
“South Africa has the second highest insurance penetration globally, making it a perfect market for YuLife to expand into and showcase its innovative approach to insurance,” says the Brits born, Jaco Oosthuizen, YuLife co-founder and managing director of YuLife South Africa, at the launch in Sandton.
The second leg of the launch will be in Cape Town.
Continued Oosthuizen:” There has been a big shift toward health and wellbeing in the workplace, with more and more companies adding new initiatives and resources to their employee benefits packages.
YuLife is launching in South Africa to offer companies an easy way to provide extra protection – we’re looking forward to providing South African businesses and employees tangible value on an everyday basis in an accessible, engaging, and deliverable manner,” he said.
Defying the mantra of tailored suits and ties usually associated with such occassions- the executive team instead were in relaxed demeanour jeans and sneakers- a sign of ‘Africanness’ and being receptive.
Talk of ‘Africanness’ the unassuming Sammy Rubin, the CEO of global YuLife who flew in with his team from London for the SA launch, says they’re here to make significant changes to the lives of South Africans, as part of ‘ubuntu’.
“Mental awareness is key in everyone and YuLife attest to that. We’re not only disrupting the market but instilling confidence, trust and ownership in SA. YuLife has a big mission: we want to help people to live their best lives, and we are passionate about using tech and financial services as a force for good, ” he quipped.
We have partnered with underwriter, Guardrisk, which is SA’s largest life cell captive insurer, to make sure every business and employee benefits greatly, says Rubin, who is practising to become a Rabbi.
In addition to day-to-day wellbeing, YuLife provides critical wellbeing tools and services to further prevent illness, both mentally and physically.
All employees with YuLife get access to a virtual GP service through Kena Health, counseling and advice through ICAS, alongside access to multiple wellbeing apps like Meditopia and Fiit.
Josh Hart, the tech-guru at YuLife says what distinguishes YuLife is its gamification elements, which actively looks to engage with employees and reward them for completing tasks like hitting step goals, taking time off to meditate, and generally being more active.
“Added to this is an in-app currency called YuCoin. Completing aforementioned tasks and goals within the app, which is available and supported on a number of mobile devices and ecosystems, earns you more YuCoin, which in turn can be used towards real world products and services.
To that end, YuLife has a growing network of partners locally, as it looks to incentivise greater wellbeing via engagement with said app,” says the bespectacled Hart.
“We are excited to be working together with YuLife to bring cost-effective insurance solutions to customers in South Africa,” said Herman Schoeman, CEO, Guardrisk Life.
“As a company rooted in innovation, partnering with such a forward-thinking company like YuLife that shares our commitment to meeting customers’ needs makes good business sense. We look forward to developing our relationship with YuLife and providing our solutions to its customers while also empowering them to have a more thorough and holistic relationship with their life insurance and protection provider.”
The company uses Yugi, the giraffe as its YuLife mascot- ‘like all giraffes he’s got a big heart – in fact the biggest heart of all land animals’.
In the United Sates of America it now covers >600k group policyholders across small to large businesses, with over $50bn of coverage in place. It has seen more than 5x growth in premiums year-on-year, and in July 2022 raised a $120M Series C led by Dai-ichi Life with participation from T. Rowe Price, bringing the company’s total funding to $206M.
‘Time to enjoy the African sun through wellness…’
Daily rewards vouchers includes Checkers, Netflorist, Old Khakhi, Loot.co.za, M&B, Garmin and Keedo.
For more information send a message at support@yulife.com
All images Mdu Mphahlele (Top- Jaco Oosthuizen, YuLife co-founder and managing director of YuLife South Africa, at the launch in Sandton).
