OKO

OKO Finance is an insurance technology company that designs and distributes crop-specific insurance products for farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its cover is parametric: payouts are triggered automatically when satellite and weather data indicate adverse conditions such as drought or flood, removing the need for on-site loss assessment and shortening the time to indemnity. Products are built per crop and per geography, with local agronomists consulted on crop development cycles and up to 30 years of historical weather data used to calibrate risk, and are underwritten and reinsured through partners.

The company positions itself as an end-to-end provider, covering insurance product design, proprietary actuarial software, remote satellite weather monitoring, and last-mile distribution tools. Distribution technology includes a web application for real-time policy management and customer communication (SMS, WhatsApp, voice), an offline-capable Android application for field agents, call-centre tooling, APIs for third-party integration, and mobile-payment integrations with operators including Orange, MTN, Airtel and the Wave wallet, so premiums and claims can be handled for unbanked farmers. Products require only a phone, with no bank account, smartphone or data connection.

OKO serves both individual farmers and institutional counterparties — microfinance institutions, commercial and development banks, insurers, brokers, agro-industries, governments and NGOs — offering group and custom-designed covers that de-risk agricultural lending. Offered crop covers span maize, cotton, rice, sorghum, cocoa, millet, sesame, peanut, soy, tobacco, coffee, potato and generic products across Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Togo and Uganda.

Founding story

Simon Schwall co-founded OKO in 2017 to deliver affordable, mobile-based crop insurance giving smallholder farmers financial security despite erratic weather patterns.

Business model

OKO designs crop insurance products that are underwritten and reinsured by third parties, then distributes and administers them through its own software. Individual farmers subscribe and pay premiums, including via mobile money, while corporate clients such as microfinance institutions, banks, mobile network operators, agro-industries, NGOs and governments embed or purchase group and custom-made cover. A commission scheme remunerates field agents, and rural youth are recruited and trained as representatives paid through mobile wallets.

Insurance premiums paid by insured farmers and by institutional partners purchasing group or custom-designed cover; premium levels are quoted as a percentage of the insured amount (for example, a 5% premium on a USD 500 loan equals USD 25).

Traction

The company reports 33,288 farmers insured to date, USD 482,000 paid in claims, 8,498 farmers compensated and 58,240 farmers sensitised. In February 2024 the CEO cited more than 27,000 farmers insured and USD 300,000 in claims paid. Paying customers grew sixfold between 2020 and 2021, and roughly 15,000 farmers had been insured across Mali and Uganda as of April 2022. In a 2023 partnership with RMCR (VisionFund network) in Mali, 31% of customers were indemnified after adverse weather, with indemnities of up to 58% of loan value paid directly to the financial institution.

Latest developments

In October 2025 OKO announced a six-digit funding round led by Catalyst Fund with participation from existing investors, earmarked for expansion through partnerships with banks, agritechs and agro-industries that embed climate insurance in agricultural value chains. The company reported operations across Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Uganda, Mozambique and Angola and more than 33,000 farmers insured. Earlier, in February 2024, it graduated from the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab and said it was focusing on partnerships with banks and microfinance institutions to facilitate access to agricultural loans.