In an endless sea of insurance providers, standing out is almost impossible – unless you’re Pineapple, of course. 

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The Pineapple Origin Story

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Like the age-old story of almost every business that has ever existed, Pineapple noticed a gap in the insurance market and took decisive action to occupy that space.

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Founded in 2017 and officially launching on the 30th of July 2018, Pineapple allowed clients to insure their ‘stuff’, namely gadgets, appliances, musical instruments and other single-item valuables.

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And in 2020, Pineapple’s growth reached new heights when motor vehicle insurance became part of its already impressive repertoire. 

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That, and the business got an impressive co-sign by one of South Africa's oldest and most notable insurance providers, Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Insure Limited, who became Pineapple's underwriter in August of the same year.

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And the rest, as they say, is history…

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Well, not precisely; quite a few chapters still need to be written in the Pineapple story.

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But what’s a good story without a compelling conflict?

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This brings us to the next part of Pineapple’s journey; the goals we hope to accomplish.

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Pineapple’s Goals

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According to the Gfk Trust in Professions report for 2014, insurance is among the least trusted industries in the world.

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And with good reason.

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Insurance companies benefit from not paying out claims, valid or not because their profit margin is linked to their claims. 

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Additionally, most people don’t know or understand where their premiums go or what they’re used for. 

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And who can forget the vast amounts of paperwork, long phone calls and numerous online forms that make buying insurance lengthy and exhausting?

Moreover, many insurance companies don’t go the extra mile to make their products more palatable.

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And most companies fail to make their policy wording understandable for the average consumer.

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Confusing jargon and complex wording can make policy documents challenging to understand, leaving the client feeling intimidated, frustrated and put off. 

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And finally, with almost 70% of South African motorists being uninsured, many people simply don’t see insurance as a necessity. 

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Most people don’t understand the insurance business model and therefore see it as a grudge purchase or a waste of money.

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And don’t get us started on the generic nature of insurance products.  

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One size fits all no longer does it for the average consumer; everyone wants to feel special, and insurance shouldn’t be an exception.

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So, Pineapple had a mammoth task of trying to allay these fears. 

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All the while still making a name for itself and cementing its place in the insurance space.

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But we’re nothing if not audacious.

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Trust

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So starting with the issue of distrust, Pineapple introduced a social-first incentive system that aims to make insurance more honest and transparent.

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The premiums clients pay go into a (hypothetical) community pot, with the company only taking a small percentage for operational costs. 

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From this percentage, we pay the underwriter meaning there’s no conflict of interest, and Pineapple has no reason not to pay out valid claims.

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All valid claims are paid from the previously mentioned community pot. 

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Once all valid claims have been settled, any remaining fees are returned to customers as a profit bonus.

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The aim of this incentive is Pineapple’s way of keeping insurance fair, honest and rewarding.

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Straightforward Insurance

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution brought numerous technological advances. 

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At this point, if a company isn’t digital, it isn’t dutiful – not that Pineapple can’t relate.

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Pineapple is one of the few insurance providers trailblazing in the insurtech market in South Africa.

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We’ve modernised our take on when and how to buy insurance, all in the name of convenience.

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We’re 100% digital, meaning you can get a quote, buy a policy, and lodge a claim, all at your fingertips. All of these services and more are available on the Pineapple website and the app as well.

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Transparency

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Once upon a time, insurance was shrouded in a great deal of mystery.

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Pineapple has gone out of its way to peel back the curtain, allowing clients to take a closer look at our insurance processes.

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Knowing where and how your premiums are spent is only fitting when you’re paying for the service. 

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We do this by sharing the activity from our community with our members in a way that is easy to understand yet still sensitive to personal information.

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Doing this allows clients to see the positive impact of their premiums by helping to pay out claims.

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Community

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In the spirit of helping others, and similar to the fruit we’re named after, one of Pineapple’s fundamental foundations is shared community.

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However, as the famous saying goes, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”

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So we’ve also come up with a solution that allows clients to build their own communities.

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Instead of relying on strangers in the larger Pineapple community, clients can connect with people they know and trust to align their profit bonus with their insurance and claims behaviour.

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The more connections a client makes, the less their profit bonus is at risk of being impacted by the general community.

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You can’t control who claims and with what frequency, but you can protect your interests by making stable and trustworthy connections.

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The Founding Members

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There’s no “i” in the word team, but there are two in “Pineapple’s founding members.”

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And it all started with an idea.

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Four individuals came together to create an insurance product that has thrown a spanner in the works of typical insurance practices.

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Marnus van Heerden (CEO)

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Marnus is a qualified chartered accountant (CA) who completed his articles at KPMG, auditing some of Africa's largest insurers, reinsurers and banks, including Old Mutual Insure, Hannover Re, Deutsche Bank and Nedbank. 

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He graduated from Stellenbosch University with a BaccLLB, an undergraduate degree allowing a student to obtain both the BAcc (accounting) and LLB (law) degrees within 5 years. 

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Currently, there are just over 200 persons holding the BAccLLB degree. 

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Marnus also helped create a fund that provides bursaries of R1,5m every 3 years to students in need and a community project contributing over R100k annually.

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As Pineapple's chief executive officer (CEO), Marnus has a passion for helping young people find purpose through taking on responsibility and the future of South Africa. 

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Global Brands awarded him Top Entrepreneur in Johannesburg, and he’s part of SAICA’s top 35 under 35. 

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Marnus has 9 years of experience in the insurance space and is passionate about solving the world’s short-term insurance challenges.

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Matthew Smith (CIO)

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Matthew Elan Smith holds a Bachelor's in Actuarial Science & Mathematical Statistics from the University of the Witwatersrand.

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​Matthew was an Actuarial Analyst at Journey Re from April 2015 to July 2016. 

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They were responsible for data preparation, manipulation and analysis in support of strategic decisions, underwriting and pricing analysis, and developing, implementing and refining pricing models, among other things.

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He then moved on to working in the reinsurance space as part of an innovation team tasked with solving insurance and reinsurance problems before starting Pineapple with Marnus, Ndabenhle and Sizwe.

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Passionate about futurism, problem-solving, new technology developments, and innovation Matt currently serves as Pineapple's chief information officer (CIO). 

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He looks after product development, data and AI, internal and external innovation, and business automation.

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Ndabenhle Ngulube (CDO)

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Ndabenhle Junior Ngulube holds a B.comm Acc and (Hons) Taxation degree from the University of Cape Town. 

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Ndabenhle has always been curious about how software works and how to optimise its performance. As a result, he taught himself how to code during his varsity tenure. 

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This culminated in a career in software engineering at one of South Africa’s fastest-growing dev houses, Platform45. 

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During his almost 2-year-long stint there, Ndabenhle was instrumental in working on projects ranging from EdTech to online betting platforms. 

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This exposed Ndabenhle to the various aspects of the engineering discipline, ranging from UX/UI (User Experience/User Interface) development to performance optimisation.

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After meeting his fellow co-founders, Marnus, Matthew and Sizwe, they built one of the most exciting insurance products South Africa has seen. 

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Ndabenhle serves as a director on Pineapple’s board and as the Chief Development Officer (CDO). 

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He primarily oversees the Pineapple web and mobile platforms, ranging from feature development and testing bug fixes to performance optimisation.

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Sizwe Ndlovu (CTO)

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Sizwe Ndlovu is a computer scientist by academia and a tech enthusiast/leader by profession. He has worked professionally in tech for 13 years across various industries locally and internationally.

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Sizwe started as a web developer for small companies in Cape Town, where he grew his passion for tech and entrepreneurship. 

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In university, he developed websites for small companies and worked at small agencies, and he also completed an internship at Quirk (acquired by WPP).

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In his final year in varsity, Sizwe founded Young Entrepreneur Connect, South Africa’s most prominent student entrepreneurship conference, through UCT’s Investment Society, which is still running. 

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Sizwe worked as a software and business developer at the multinational’s Breakthrough Innovation Group (which reported to HQ Exco). 

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He also created the BIG Digital Distillery, a platform for startups to bid for collaborations with the Group’s global affiliates. 

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After consulting for various startup companies in Europe and the US, Sizwe joined the Pineapple founders Marnus, Matthew and Ndabenhle to help charter the company’s technology endeavours forward as chief technology officer (CTO). 

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Sizwe holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Cape Town.

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What Makes Pineapple Different

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Digitalisation

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Pineapple differs from the rest thanks to our affordable product that offers incredible accessibility.

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Pineapple aims to make insurance accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

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As mentioned earlier, Pineapple is 100% digital – members can generate a quote, activate a policy, lodge a claim or update their coverage, all without ever having to speak with a consultant.

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However, the option of speaking to a consultant is also available. 

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Our online support team and chatbot allow clients to receive help round-the-clock.

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The client takes a picture, and the AI technology recognises the image, matching it to the correct policy and pricing category.

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The image-first approach helps bridge many gaps in insurance, overcoming language barriers and making the insurance process more understandable, educational and accessible.

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💡Fun fact: Pineapple was the first insurance company to initiate insurance using a camera, thanks to AI technology.

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Additionally, unlike other insurance providers, using customer data, AI, and analytics allows us to improve the user journey, underwriting, fraud detection, claims approvals and more.

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Personalisation

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Pineapple also offers per-item insurance, which allows clients to build their cover, tailor-made to suit their needs.

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Single-item coverage allows clients to insure their belongings without needing a pre-existing homeowner or contents policy.

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This makes our insurance product more inviting to sceptics or anyone with possible reservations, especially those not owning formal dwellings.

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Advanced Safety Features

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And through innovative technology, we’ve implemented a feature that automatically detects when a client’s been involved in an accident.

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Once our app detects an accident, it will immediately alert the users ‘in case of emergency (ICE)’ contacts. 

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Our app will also send the client emergency contact numbers should they require medical attention.

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Shared Value

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*You get a bonus! You get a bonus! Everybody gets a bonus!

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Look under your chair; IT’S A BONUS! 

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(*Provided the communal pot is not empty after paying out all valid claims.)

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As previously mentioned, all unused premiums are returned to clients’ pockets. 

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So, our customers never pay more for a product than needed to settle claims – making our insurance product even more affordable and fair.

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The more the community works together, the lower the loss ratio and the more money everyone can receive at the end of their 12-month cycle, resulting in a win for everyone. 

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Simplicity

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Best of all? We’ve simplified the often tedious process of interacting with an insurance provider for claims-related purposes, policy inquiries etc.

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Our straightforward processes allow clients to insure their belongings or vehicle in 90 seconds or less.

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This makes us 40 seconds faster than traditional insuring processes, saving you time. Not to mention the customer can do this without a phone call (unless a phone call is requested). 

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And as previously mentioned, we use visual components like images from your camera, emojis and other visual aids to communicate complex concepts better.

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Doing so allows first-time users and insurance buyers to grasp concepts swiftly without causing too much confusion with complicated jargon.

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Fraud Busters.

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And to top it off, in a corruption-riddled country like South Africa, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s still hope for humanity.

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On top of solving fraud from a behavioural point of view, Pineapple aims to detect and prevent fraud using a broad range of data points that aren’t available to traditional insurance companies.

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Pineapple Rewards

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We’ve put the ‘fun’ in insurance fundamentals with our rewards system. 

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Our clients can earn points and redeem them for reward vouchers from some of South Africa’s leading retailers like Takealot, Superbalist, Uber and UberEats, and Sorbet, just to name a few.

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These points can be earned by participating in challenges and unlocking badges after completing said challenges.

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The Pineapple Way.

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How to sign up:

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Or

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Rewards tutorial:

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Motor insurance tutorial:

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All-Risk insurance tutorial:

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Motor claim tutorial:

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Still wanna know more? 

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Head over to our website at Pineapple.co.za and have a look around; we don’t mind. Or click here to get a quote in under 90 seconds!

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Pineapple (FSP 48650) is underwritten by Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Insure Limited, a licensed Non-Life Insurer and authorised FSP. T&Cs apply. Premium is risk profile dependent.

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