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Canadian Social Entrepreneurs to Use Besure's P2P Self-Insurance Innovation in TanzaniaBesure, a peer-to-peer insurance startup, is supporting University of Calgary team Upya who are working to implement a community-based micro insurance brokerage in Tanzania. Upya was the runner up at the 7th Annual Hult Prize challenge. The objective this year, chosen by former President Bill Clinton, is to build a sustainable, scalable and fast-growing social enterprise that doubles the income of 10million people residing in crowded urban spaces. In Tanzania, the biggest threats to a low-income family's financial security are unavoidable costs from medical expenses or other business interruption events. These costs cause families living at or below the poverty line to fall farther below it, making it hard to become self-sufficient again. "In developing countries micro insurance can offer protection to low-income families who are unable to access mainstream insurance," says Upya team member Hena Qureshi. "Besure was a natural fit with our program because their platform eliminates mistrust by being financially transparent and providing autonomy to members to make the claims decisions for their community's insurance pool." - Upya team member Fartoon Siad. Besure will support team Upya as they enter the online wildcard round to compete for the $1,000,000USD Hult prize. They are expected to work with a number of Tanzanian organizations including Tahea Mwanza, White Orange (News - Alert) Youth, Jasmine Bee, and others. Initially, the Besure platform is expected to support more than 400,000 people. "We have an effective and scalable solution which will lift many communities from poverty in East Africa," says Karim Lalani, Besure team lead. Team Upya is eager for additional support or connections that could help them run their pilot project in Tanzania. Team Upya: University of Calgary Community Health Science students Fartoon Siad, Dr. Carol Fenton, Hena Qureshi, Dima Arafah, and Haskayne School of Business alumna Rosalynn Peschl. About Besure: Besure is a peer-to-peer platform that provides a fresh take on insurance by empowering individuals within communities to protect the things that matter, together. About the Hult Prize: The Hult Prize brings together the brightest college and university students from around the globe to focus on solving one of the world's key social challenges and awards $1,000,000 USD in start-up capital to the winner.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160427006744/en/ |
