EP 33: Thomas Njeru: On leaving the prestige of the Big 4, pursuing impact, and scaling Pula across 18 countries

In this conversation, I sit down with Thomas Njeru, co-founder and CEO of Pula Advisors, to unpack his inspiring journey from growing up on a farm in rural Kenya to becoming an actuary, rising to director at Deloitte, and ultimately walking away from the corporate world to build for impact.We discuss his journey of  co-founding Pula, a company with a mission of providing agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers to protect them against increasing climate shocks. Pula has successfully to 18 countries ranging from Kenya, Mexico, and Pakistan and they have reached over 20 million farmers. Thomas shares lessons on building a resilient global teams, navigating expansion across continents. We also discuss the recent experience of raising a $20 million Series B round in a tough fundraising climate. Thomas pursued actuarial science at the University of Nairobi and later earned an MBA from Strathmore Business School. Before founding Pula, he held senior roles at UAP-Old Mutual and Deloitte South Africa, where he honed his expertise in risk and insurance. In 2023, he was first runner-up in the Africa's Business Heroes competition, and in 2024, he was featured on the TIME100 Next list.