Pioneers of Progress: Pula

"I always believed you could explain the world in numbers," Njeru says, and for its flagship product, which covers everything from drought to hurricanes, Pula gives farmers just two to remember. On average, a yield will be three metric tons; the company pays out if they harvest less than two metric tons. That’s it – “normal is three. Below two, I get paid."

The motivation behind the business is just as easy to explain, as underneath all the data and tech is a simple aim – support farmers in enduring risks, improve their practices and, over time, boost their incomes. Pula is helping them think like entrepreneurs and build sustainable livelihoods for themselves.

Without data and technology, Pula wouldn't have a business. Traditional agriculture insurance models rely on visits to assess farms throughout the season − and if something goes wrong. But for Pula, whose customers usually cultivate just over half an acre of land, the costs of such visits would never be covered by the small premiums of less than three US dollars a year.

Instead, the company uses satellite data to understand how climates work − for example, by showing rainfall patterns on a particular farm − and employs a field force equipped with tablets and weighing scales to monitor yields. It uses the registration data it collects to develop digital marketing strategies that grow revenues for its partners, like seed companies. This way, it says, it’s creating sustainable value for both farmers and its clients.

Pula doesn't take on insurance risk itself, but works with insurers to cover farmers. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the network of partnerships the company has built, which ranges from boots on the ground attending the farms, to seed and fertilizer companies, to national governments, to central banks.

Obviously, banks are one node in that network.
Credit Suisse was one of the first global banks to invest in financial inclusion microfinance and it has a long history of supporting entrepreneurs who promote economic growth, sustainability, and social progress, striving to change the world for the better.

Pula has everything that makes a progressive business: a transformative idea, a contribution to sustainability, an impressive client base, and a visionary management team. It was willing to challenge the status quo. But what else is needed to drive progress for individuals, business, and society?

"Running a start-up is like a roller-coaster," Njeru says. "So, entrepreneurs should be resilient and gritty." For Pula, this resilience comes in large part from its co-founders’ dedication to their cause and support and respect for each other. "When you work with someone who stays strong in challenging times," Njeru continues, "that also makes you strong and pushes you onto the next challenge."

When you're doing something that has never been done before, those challenges will likely keep coming. But as Goslinga says, "It's all about proving the impossible is possible."

Insurance, as Pula sees it, is something people need but don't want. And in Africa, the company has had to invest energy and resources in getting farmers to appreciate the need to have insurance.

It employs hundreds of young rural people to harvest on people's farms and engages with them on a regular basis to build trust. "We want to be able to serve as many farmers as possible at a fantastic service level," Goslinga says. "Offering our product to farmers in a way that they'll want to buy it again effectively means that our business becomes profitable. And, to young start-ups, profitability and being able to hold your own is everything."