Pineapple, a South African insurtech startup has been awarded the first prize and $1.5-million in VentureClash which is a $5-million global venture challenge for early-stage startups powered by US-based Connecticut Innovations.
Pineapple was named overall winner beating nine other startups from the US, (3) Israel (4) and Canada (2). They were selected from over 300 applications from across the world.
There were several prizes given out by venture capital (VC) fund Connecticut Innovations, from a total prize pool of $5-million.
Founded in 2017 by Matthew Elan Smith, Ndabenhle Ngulube and Marnus van Heerden, the startup via its app allows users to insure anything from cellphones to bicycles in the snap of a picture.
The startup had already been awarded the US$25,000 VentureClash Innovation Prize, awarded to VentureClash competitors developing solutions and pursuing market opportunities in insurtech.
“We are excited about what this means for the future of software development in South Africa.
“It shows that we can compete on a global stage and that there is a bright future for the South African technology industry,” said Pineapple chief technology officer (CTO) Ndabenhle Ngulube.
