Inspiring Moments

In venture, it’s not often coming across a team with a high degree of raw talent and passion, solving some of the most ambitious problems in Southeast Asia. I’ve been incredibly grateful to be able to join Harshet and Tommy on the ride since leading SeedPlus’s investment into Qoala last year when it was just the two of them. Here’s a good profile of Qoala from Tech in Asia which tells the story thus far: https://www.techinasia.com/microinsurance-coming-masses-indonesia While it’s often exciting to talk about the market and opportunity size (Insurance x technology x emerging Southeast Asia), it’s the human stories that stays with me:

“We once had a case where 17 kids had a delayed flight from Jakarta to Manado. They were stranded at the airport and tried to make a claim for their flight delay,” shares Harshet Lunani, Qoala’s co-founder and CEO. “As the process was automated, all they had to do was snap a picture of the documents to make the claim, and we could pay them immediately.”

Lunani adds: “We later found out that they used the money to have a meal at KFC, and that made my day because I can relate and imagine not setting aside money for a meal due to a tight flight schedule.”

(I can relate to the bit about KFC 🙂) Moments like these where technology creates an impact with such immediacy is truly inspiring. The truth is, moments like these shouldn’t be rare; moments like these should be experienced by every day consumers across Southeast Asia. I am glad and energised that the Qoala team is en route to making that happen, partnering with some of the most successful investors in the region including Sequoia Capital, Golden Gate Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, MDI Ventures and so on. To more inspiring moments!