SA’s Naked launches pet insurance, with claims paid in minutes

South African insurtech startup Naked launches pet insurance for cats and dogs, with claims often paid out in minutes.

Launched in 2018 by actuaries Alex Thomson, Sumarie Greybe, and Ernest North, Naked has built an end-to-end digital platform that enables customers to manage their entire insurance experience online from an app.

Its platform offers comprehensive and instant cover for cars, homes, contents, and standalone items, using AI and automation to create a new type of insurance experience. Consumers benefit from lower costs as well as more control of their insurance experience. They can get a final insurance quote in less than 90 seconds, and switch or pause their cover, all online, without speaking to a contact centre agent.

Naked secured US$38 million in Series B2 funding in January 2025 to power its growth by deepening investment in automation and AI, product and market expansion, and enhancing advertising, and in May of this year became the first platform in the world to successfully develop and deploy a native app in ChatGPT that can provide a final, binding car insurance quote.

Its latest product, available through the Naked app, offers accident-only, accident-and-illness, and comprehensive cover that includes physiotherapy and routine care. Customers can choose an annual limit, select their own excess, and use any registered vet in South Africa. Covered treatments are not subject to separate treatment-specific sub-limits.

Naked uses AI to automatically approve eligible claims, including outside office hours, with more complex claims referred to its team for review. Early data shows a median payout time of 1.3 days, with 60 per cent of claims paid within 48 hours and the fastest paid in 12 minutes.

“When a pet needs emergency treatment, you’re already worried about what might be wrong and whether they’ll recover,” said Sumarie Greybe, co-founder of Naked. “The last thing you want to worry about is how you’ll pay the vet bill or how long you’ll have to wait to get your money back.”

The post SA’s Naked launches pet insurance, with claims paid in minutes appeared first on Disrupt Africa.