SA based Pineapple goes home with $1.5m as first place winner in Ventureclash challenge

South African based Insurance tech startup, Pineapple, has won first place in the US-based Ventureclash challenge. Eleven businesses pitched at a final event for a share of the prize money.

Pineapple is a peer-to-peer insurance provider that allows individuals to insure their possessions simply by snapping a picture and uploading it to the mobile application. It was founded in 2017 by Matthew Elan Smith, Ndabenhle Junior Ngulube and Marnus van Heerden

The other winners are:

• Second Place winner: Aridot (Israel) – An insurtech solution that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics to help life insurance companies optimize their books of business.
• Second Place winner: Eyecontrol (Israel) – An Israeli company creating an innovative communication device for individuals who suffer from complete paralysis.
• Third Place winner: Cinchy (Canada) – A company creating a new alternative to buying and building applications that brings data collaboration to the enterprise.
• Third Place winner: Covr Financial Technologies – A company simplifying the way life insurance is sold by offering financial institutions a digital platform to sell leading insurance products in the most efficient way possible.
• Third Place winner: Motherschoice (Israel) – A company creating the next generation of personal care products scientifically proven to be healthy, safe and 100 percent natural.
• Third Place winner: Curatio (Canada) – A Canadian company building a mobile platform that matches patients to others who understand what they’re going through in a private, secure environment.
• Third Place winner: DEEP (Israel) – An Israeli company developing a platform that uses AI and practical machine learning technologies to create contextual visual storytelling elements, including semi-automated video production.

Managed by Connecticut Innovations, VentureClash is a global venture challenge that identifies early-stage companies in digital health, fintech, insurtech and the Internet of Things (IoT) to receive investments from a US$5 million investment award pool.