OKO
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersBamako, Mali
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
OKO firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OKO
- Legal name
- OKO Finance
- Website
- https://oko.finance
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OKO industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Parametric Crop Insurance
- NAICS
- Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (524210), Direct Insurance (except Life, Health, and Medical) Carriers (52412)
- SIC
- Fire, Marine & Casualty Insurance (6331), Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Crop & Farm Property Insurance (FSAJACAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Agriculture / Crop / Livestock Reinsurance (FSAOADAN), Facultative Agriculture & Parametric Reinsurance (FSAOAFAL)
Keywords
Where OKO is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bamako
- HQ country
- Mali
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices4 records
Markets served
OKO business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Crop Insurance Premiums: OKO generates revenue through insurance premiums paid by farmers and partner organizations. Premiums are calculated based on coverage amount, indemnity frequency, and crop type. Farmers and partner institutions pay seasonal or annual premiums to obtain climate insurance coverage.
- B2B Enterprise Insurance Solutions: OKO provides custom-made insurance solutions for groups including financial institutions and agro-industries. These enterprise clients pay for insurance that protects their agricultural loan portfolios or supply chains, with commissions and premium arrangements negotiated per partnership.
- Partnership Commissions and Referral Fees: OKO earns commissions through partnerships with mobile network operators (Orange, MTN, Airtel) and microfinance institutions, generating associated revenues when farmers use these platforms to purchase and pay for insurance.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Individual farmer insurance |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
OKO product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OKO designs, prices, and distributes parametric crop insurance to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with claims automatically validated and paid when satellite weather data detects droughts or floods. Insurance is sold to individual farmers via mobile phones and mobile-money wallets, and to groups via B2B partnerships with microfinance institutions, mobile network operators, and agro-industrial buyers across Mali, Uganda, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Senegal, Togo, and Angola. Reinsurance capacity is provided by Allianz Reinsurance, Sanlam-Allianz, and Jubilee-Allianz, and OKO operates a proprietary mobile and web distribution platform to reach farmers without smartphones or bank accounts.
Product overview
OKO provides a unified parametric crop insurance platform for Sub-Saharan Africa featuring climate index-based insurance products accessible via mobile phone. The platform consists of crop-specific insurance products across 10 African countries (Mali, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Senegal, Togo, Angola, plus planned expansion), a suite of proprietary distribution tools (mobile apps, web apps, APIs, CRM), and automated claims processing using satellite weather data. OKO offers individual farmer policies through its Insure a Field product and custom group solutions for financial institutions and agro-industries through its Enterprise solutions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Parametric Crop Insurance (Insure a Field) Individual parametric crop insurance policy that automatically validates and pays claims to smallholder farmers when satellite weather data detects adverse conditions (droughts or floods) affecting insured crops. Accessible via basic mobile phone without requiring a smartphone or bank account, with claims paid directly through mobile money.
- Enterprise / B2B Crop Insurance Solutions Custom-made parametric insurance solutions for groups including microfinance institutions, mobile network operators, and agro-industrial buyers to de-risk agricultural loan portfolios, expand wallet offerings, or secure smallholder supply chains. Includes group policies with indemnities of up to 58% of loan value paid directly to lenders when weather triggers occur.
- Mali Crop Insurance Country-specific parametric crop insurance for Mali covering maize, cotton, sorghum, peanut (groundnut), millet, and sesame. Available to anyone with a phone, with claims paid via Orange Money. Distributed through field agents and the Orange Money menu in Mali.
- Uganda Crop Insurance Country-specific parametric crop insurance for Uganda covering maize, soy, coffee, potato, and generic crops. Distributed in partnership with MTN Mobile Money and Jubilee-Allianz, with product design support from eLeaf.
- Côte d'Ivoire Crop Insurance Country-specific parametric crop insurance for Côte d'Ivoire covering cocoa, cotton, and maize. Distributed in partnership with Allianz Côte d'Ivoire, Touton (cocoa sector), and MTN Mobile Money, with underwriting supported by Allianz.
- Mozambique Crop Insurance Country-specific parametric crop insurance for Mozambique covering soy and tobacco crops, available through OKO's mobile distribution platform.
- Senegal Crop Insurance Country-specific parametric crop insurance for Senegal covering maize and cotton, available through OKO's mobile distribution platform.
- Togo Crop Insurance Country-specific parametric crop insurance for Togo covering maize, sesame, soy, and rice, available through OKO's mobile distribution platform.
- Angola Crop Insurance Country-specific parametric crop insurance for Angola covering maize, available through OKO's mobile distribution platform.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 33,000 farmers protected across 5 African countries
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use OKO
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
OKO technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability3 records
Feature5 records
OKO partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- USAIDminorOKO was preparing three ambitious initiatives with USAID across Mali, DRC, and Côte d'Ivoire focused on climate insurance, rural youth empowerment, and crop expansion. All three projects were halted following the USAID shutdown. The projects are documented and ready for new partners to revive.
- Sanlam-AllianzcoreOKO's insurance products are underwritten by Sanlam-Allianz through a multi-year partnership. This provides additional reinsurance capacity and market expansion support.
- Airtel MoneycoreOKO integrates with Airtel Money for mobile payment solutions alongside Orange, MTN, and Wave platforms, enabling broad mobile money coverage across its operating markets.
- VisionFund / RMCRcoreVisionFund Mali (RMCR, part of VisionFund network) partnered with OKO in 2023 to offer crop insurance to their agricultural loan customers. In 2023, 31% of customers were indemnified after adverse weather, and indemnities of up to 58% of loan value were paid directly to the financial institution.
- MTN Mobile MoneycoreOKO is integrated with MTN Mobile Money in Ivory Coast and Uganda for premium collection and claim payouts, enabling farmers without bank accounts to access insurance through MTN's mobile wallet.
- ToutoncoreFrench agro-industrial group Touton partnered with OKO in 2022 to offer index insurance to cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast. Touton sources from 50,000 small producers in Côte d'Ivoire. The partnership brought OKO's crop insurance distribution technology to millions of cocoa farmers, with OKO launching in Ivory Coast at Touton's request.
- Allianz ReinsurancecoreAllianz and OKO initially signed an agreement in 2019 to test OKO's concept in Mali. Allianz provides underwriting and reinsurance for OKO's crop insurance products. The partnership was renewed in 2024 as a multi-year agreement. OKO brings data-science expertise and mobile distribution technology; Allianz assists in underwriting and reinsuring crop insurance products. The partnership expanded to Uganda (Jubilee-Allianz) and Ivory Coast (Allianz Côte d'Ivoire).
- Orange Money (Orange Mali)coreOKO is integrated into the Orange Money menu in Mali, enabling farmers to pay premiums and receive payouts via Orange Money. OKO won the Orange Social Venture Prize in 2018. Orange Mali enriched its service portfolio with OKO's insurance, and many farmers created Orange Money accounts specifically to access OKO's insurance.
- WaveminorOKO integrates with Wave mobile wallet operator alongside other mobile money platforms for premium collection and claim payouts across its markets.
- eLeafcoreOKO sells products designed by eLeaf in Uganda and collaborates on product designs in Mali. eLeaf provides weather index product design expertise and actuarial support for OKO's offerings in East Africa.
- Jubilee-AllianzcoreOKO expanded to Uganda in collaboration with Jubilee-Allianz for insurance product underwriting and reinsurance, in addition to its existing eLeaf product design partnership.
- AB InBevcoreOKO's insurance protects farmers from climate risks and secures the supply chain for large buyers including AB InBev. OKO helps companies achieve their sustainability objectives by protecting smallholder farmers in their sourcing networks.
- OlamcoreOKO works with agro-industrial companies including Olam. Insurance secures supply chains for large food, textile, or beverage companies and helps them achieve sustainability objectives.
- GSMA Mobile for DevelopmentminorOKO is featured in GSMA Mobile for Development reports on agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers and digital innovations for scale.
- UNDP Digital XminorOKO featured on UNDP Digital X platform for mobile-delivered crop insurance for farmers.
- Norwegian Humanitarian Innovation ProgrammeminorOKO featured in the Norwegian Humanitarian Innovation Programme article on scaling up gender-focused crop insurance.
- UN WomenminorUN Women partnered with OKO to make agriculture insurance more accessible for women in Mali and better tailored to their needs. Lorenzo Rovelli, Innovation Project Coordinator for UN Women, commented on OKO's technical expertise and gender-transformative approach.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
OKO competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- aWhere: aWhere provides agronomic and weather data services to agricultural insurance and agri-businesses globally. It is an enabling technology peer whose satellite weather data and analytics capabilities are similar to those OKO integrates into its parametric product design.
Direct peers
- Pula Advisors: Pula is a direct competitor offering parametric and traditional crop insurance to smallholder farmers across Africa, using similar bundling with input providers and lenders. Both companies target the same climate-vulnerable farmer segment with bundled agri-risk solutions.
- ACRE Africa: ACRE Africa (Agriculture & Climate Risk Enterprise) is a direct peer providing weather-index based crop and livestock insurance to smallholder farmers in East and Southern Africa. It links insurers, reinsurers, and distribution partners in a model structurally similar to OKO.
- Ibisa: Ibisa operates a parametric index insurance platform for agricultural and climate risk in developing countries, working with local insurers and reinsurers. It overlaps with OKO on product design, satellite-based triggers, and emerging-market farmer segments.
- WorldCover (formerly World Cover Crops): WorldCover provided parametric crop insurance to smallholder farmers in emerging markets (acquired by AXA Climate in 2023). It is a direct precedent for OKO's model and customer segment in Africa and was one of the most cited comparables in the parametric African agri-insurance space.
Broad incumbents
- MicroEnsure (now Inclusivity Solutions): MicroEnsure / Inclusivity Solutions is a larger, established microinsurance provider serving emerging markets across Africa and Asia with life, health, and agricultural products. It overlaps with OKO on customer segment (low-income, mobile-first) and channel (MNO and MFI partnerships) but offers a broader product portfolio.
- BIMA (Milvik): BIMA provides mobile-delivered microinsurance and health products in emerging markets via MNO partnerships. It overlaps with OKO on the mobile distribution model targeting unbanked customers, but does not focus on parametric crop insurance.
- Swiss Re / Swiss Re Institute: Swiss Re is a major global reinsurer with parametric crop and climate risk capacity in Africa. It sits one layer upstream of OKO as a potential reinsurance provider and competes with Allianz Re in the parametric agriculture reinsurance space relevant to OKO.
Emerging players
- CropIn: CropIn offers an agri-intelligence platform with farm-level data, advisory, and risk management for agribusinesses in emerging markets. It overlaps with OKO on serving smallholder farmer networks and corporate supply-chain partners, but from a digital agronomy rather than insurance angle.
- Etherisc: Etherisc builds decentralized parametric insurance protocols with a focus on crop and travel products in emerging markets. It targets a similar parametric crop insurance use case as OKO but uses blockchain infrastructure and partners rather than direct insurance distribution.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
OKO social profiles
Digital presenceOKO financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OKO leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
OKO funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds10 records
Investors16 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OKO M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about OKO
What does OKO do?
OKO designs, prices, and distributes parametric crop insurance to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with claims automatically validated and paid when satellite weather data detects droughts or floods. Insurance is sold to individual farmers via mobile phones and mobile-money wallets, and to groups via B2B partnerships with microfinance institutions, mobile network operators, and agro-industrial buyers across Mali, Uganda, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Senegal, Togo, and Angola. Reinsurance capacity is provided by Allianz Reinsurance, Sanlam-Allianz, and Jubilee-Allianz, and OKO operates a proprietary mobile and web distribution platform to reach farmers without smartphones or bank accounts.
Is OKO a public or private company?
OKO is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was OKO founded?
OKO was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is OKO based?
OKO is headquartered in Bamako, Mali, in the Africa region.
How does OKO make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Crop Insurance Premiums are the primary driver. The others are B2B Enterprise Insurance Solutions and partnership Commissions and Referral Fees.
Who are OKO's main competitors?
aWhere is listed as an others. Direct peers are Pula Advisors, ACRE Africa, Ibisa and WorldCover (formerly World Cover Crops). Broad incumbents are MicroEnsure (now Inclusivity Solutions), BIMA (Milvik) and Swiss Re / Swiss Re Institute. Emerging players are CropIn and Etherisc.
Does OKO have an API?
Yes. OKO offers APIs to integrate into existing solutions, enabling partners to embed crop insurance capabilities into their platforms. The API allows integration with OKO's policy management system for automated insurance distribution and claims processing.
What industry is OKO in?
OKO's product category is Parametric Crop Insurance. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAJACAK, Crop & Farm Property Insurance, with a secondary code of FSAOADAN, Agriculture / Crop / Livestock Reinsurance. Its NAICS code is 524210 and its SIC code is 6331.