World Bank Group's Agri Insuretech Challenge Awards Nine Entrepreneurs for Innovative Agriculture Solutions

• World Bank Group's flagship program, Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), facilitates access to finance and insurance solutions for smallholder farmers.
• Supports and enables farmers to access finance and build resilience against future farm risks

MUMBAI, July 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- World Bank Group, through the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) and Sankalp Forum by Intellecap, announced the winners of Agriculture Insuretech Innovation Challenge at the Agri Insuretech Forum that took place at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, this week.

The event witnessed participation from leading insurance companies, government officials from Ministry of Agriculture, impact investors, and innovators incubators from the agriculture, technology, and insurance sectors. The platform held key panel discussions on bringing together the agri-insuretech ecosystem stakeholders such as innovators, investors, government, academia, technology and financial services companies to deliberate on the role that technology innovations can play in driving the design, distribution and adoption of agricultural insurance solutions. Key government dignitaries Suhas Divase, Commissioner of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra and Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, CEO, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Government of India were also part of the panel discussions.

Speaking about the strategic partnership, Vikas Bali, CEO, Intellecap Advisory Services, said, "The partnership between GIIF and Intellecap comes at a very important time. Solving agri and smallholder farmer incomes is key to making a more equitable and sustainable ecosystem. Through this partnership, we have brought together innovators from 21 countries who will drive this change. This summit is just a start of a long eventful journey."

Of the world's 500 million smallholder farmers, around 400 million are in Asia. The region is home to some of the world's most climate-exposed territories and has been disproportionately hit by the effects of climate change, with 45 percent of the world's natural disasters occurring here in the past three decades. Smallholders farmers, in particular, are suffering from crop failures that can threaten their economic livelihood. The Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), is supporting farmers and micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries to gain better access to finance and manage financial losses arising from frequent and severe weather events.

Fatou Assah, GIIF Program Manager, World Bank Group, said, "The World Bank Group is committed to promoting agriculture insurance for smallholder farmers, so they can protect themselves against more frequent and severe climate events. The adoption of Insuretech solutions helps reach the larger number of low-income rural populations with financial products that are needed, cost-effective, transparent, and simple. I am delighted that the innovators participating in this challenge are contributing to the betterment of the rural finance ecosystem with scalable technology solutions that can be replicated in other geographies."

The event was closed with the announcement of the Agri Insuretech Challenge winners. The Awards recognized some of South and Southeast Asia's most promising entrepreneurs who are using technology to address challenges in providing agricultural insurance to farmers. The awards were given under three categories of an insurance product's lifecycle -- Data & Analytics, Sales and Distribution, and Premiums & Claims. The 9 winners, selected from 24 challenge finalists and 105 applicants, won cash awards valued at $270,000. They will now collaborate with WBG's Global Index Insurance Facility to develop their solutions further to improve agricultural insurance products and their uptake, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. The nine winners are:

Data & Analytics:

1. Stellaps
2. MoooFarm
3. Niruthi

Sales & Distribution:

1. ICT 4 Agri
2. Hara
3. HF Mlog

Premiums & Claims:

1. Gramcover
2. Coastal
3. Dhwani RIS

Keynote speaker, Vineet Rai, CEO of leading impact investment group, Aavishkaar Capital said, "There is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs if they look at different verticals in the agriculture value chain and create specialization. Capital should not be an issue as there is serious interest in agri tech from the investor community."

About the GIIF:

The World Bank Group, through the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), helps smallholder farmers and micro-entrepreneurs gain better access to finance, manage financial losses, and protect their livelihoods against more frequent and more severe weather events. With an objective to develop effective and sustainable markets for agriculture insurance, GIIF, since 2009, has facilitated more than 4.6 million contracts, covering over 23 million beneficiaries and $730 million in agricultural investments insured in more than 30 developing countries. For more information, visit: www.indexinsuranceforum.org

About Sankalp Forum:

Sankalp Forum was initiated in India in 2009 by Intellecap, part of the Aavishkaar Group, to create a thriving ecosystem for business-led inclusive development. Over the past 10 years, Sankalp has built one of the world's largest impact enterprise focused platforms that has showcased and discovered 1600+ entrepreneurs, through 20+ editions and has connected them to 500+ investors. Sankalp has enabled enterprises and entrepreneurs and has helped raise over USD 250 million in funding. Sankalp Forum engages with Governments, Corporations, influential platforms like the G8 and G20, media and civil society to drive a paradigm shift in inclusive development approaches. With a global network of 100,000+ ecosystem players, we continue to build businesses for the next 3 billion. For more information, visit: www.sankalpforum.com

About Intellecap

Intellecap a part of The Aavishkaar Group, is a pioneer in building enabling ecosystems and channeling capital to create and nurture a sustainable and equitable society. Founded in 2002, Intellecap works across critical sectors like Agriculture, Livelihoods, Climate Change, Clean Energy, Financial Services, Gender & Inclusion, Healthcare, Water and Sanitation, and has delivered over 500 global engagements across 40+ countries and syndicated investments of over $500 Million USD in Capital. Intellecap through its presence in India and Africa, provides a broad range of Consulting, Research and Investment Banking Services, to Multilateral Agencies, Development Finance Institutions, Social Enterprises, Corporations, Investors, Policy Makers and Donors. Our common action platform, Sankalp Forum, one of the largest global inclusive development platforms, brings together the ecosystem to shape the way markets work for delivering the SDGs 2030. Select clients of Intellecap include the USAID, Rockefeller Foundation, World Bank, Ford Foundation, The Hans Foundation, Doen Foundation, GIZ, DFID, Hindustan Unilever, P&G, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

For more details please visit, www.intellecap.com

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