The French digital health insurer Alan, whose backers include football star Kylian Mbappé and technology investor Prosus, has acquired Senegalese digital health coverage provider Tanel, marking the company’s first expansion into Africa and signalling growing interest among European athletes in the continent’s technology sector.
The acquisition, announced on Tuesday, comes months after Alan raised €580mn in a funding round that valued the company at €5.5bn. Financial terms of the Tanel transaction were not disclosed. Tanel was valued at $7.5mn in a 2024 fundraising round.
Alan, which serves more than 1mn members across France, Spain, Belgium and Canada, provides insurance packages to corporate clients including Volkswagen Spain and France’s finance ministry. Tanel operates a similar business model in Senegal and Ivory Coast, covering approximately 70,000 people through clients such as ride-hailing platform Yango and fast-food chain KFC.
The deal represents a rare healthcare investment exit in Africa for early backers including Nigeria-based Ventures Platform and Japan’s AAIC, a specialist healthcare investor on the continent.
Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve, Alan’s chief executive, said the two companies had developed a relationship over an 18-month period before deciding to combine. “We looked at different opportunities for expansion and we were lucky to know the Tanel team for one year and a half,” Samuelian-Werve said. “The compatibility of our approaches made this a natural fit.”
The acquisition provides Alan with a foothold in francophone west Africa at a time when the company, despite generating €840mn in annual recurring revenue, continues to operate at a loss. Its backers include Index Ventures, Prosus and Mbappé, the French national team captain who joined as an investor and ambassador.
Mouhamed Ndoye, Tanel’s Dakar-based chief executive, said the two sides had initially discussed a Series A fundraising before concluding that an acquisition offered greater strategic value. “That was actually our initial plan earlier this year,” Ndoye said. “But as we were discussing with Alan, we realised that it was a great opportunity to join forces because Alan has evolved beyond just health insurance.”
Tanel will be rebranded under the Alan name, with Ndoye and co-founder Makhtar Diop remaining to lead operations and oversee expansion into English-speaking markets in west and east Africa.
The deal underscores a broader trend of European footballers, particularly those of African descent, directing capital towards technology start-ups in francophone Africa. Senegal has emerged as a focal point, with recent investments spanning logistics, mobile marketing and financial technology.
Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni, Barcelona defender Jules Koundé and AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan backed Dakar-based cloud communications platform LAfricaMobile. The same group had previously invested in Senegalese logistics company Paps Logistics.
The pattern extends beyond Senegal. Édouard Mendy, the Senegalese goalkeeper formerly of Chelsea, invested in Ivory Coast-based payments start-up Julaya, which founder Mathias Léopoldie said had delivered a 4x return for early angel investors. Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has backed Nigerian fantasy sports platform Fanbants, while Bayer Leverkusen defender Jeremie Frimpong has invested in Ghanaian remote work company Remoteli.
Former France international Blaise Matuidi and former England defender Kieran Gibbs invested in Sudan-based fintech Bloom, now renamed Elevate, during their time at Inter Miami.
The Alan-Tanel transaction, while primarily a strategic move by a European company seeking growth beyond saturated markets, provides further evidence that francophone Africa’s technology sector is attracting attention from investors who previously focused elsewhere.
Alan declined to disclose financial projections for its African operations but said the expansion would continue through organic growth and further acquisitions.