Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 11 March 2025 – CarePay, a leading innovator in next-gen health insurance platforms, has announced the establishment of a Growth Advisory Board to drive its international expansion strategy. The board, comprising industry experts, will provide strategic guidance to help CarePay scale globally, navigate market opportunities, and forge new partnerships.

CarePay’s mission is to make healthcare more accessible and affordable by solving data access and quality challenges for health insurers and Third-Party Administrators. In an era where AI is transforming industries, insurers need connected, real-time, and granular data to enhance operational efficiency, improve business performance, and enhance the overall member experience. With a state-of-the-art tech platform, CarePay makes health insurance more data-driven and personalized across the end-to-end insurance journey, reducing administrative and claim costs significantly.  

Pieter Prickaerts, CEO of CarePay, emphasized the company’s momentum:

"CarePay is well-positioned to scale its proven model in new markets with its secure and future-proof technology, real-time and granular data, and member-centric focus. The expertise and industry connections of our Growth Advisory Board drives business opportunities in the insurance market."

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The platform also meets stringent global standards like GDPR, ensuring data privacy while delivering high-quality insights for insurers.

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Meet the Growth Advisory Board

The Growth Advisory Board consists of five distinguished leaders, each with decades of experience across the insurance, tech and health sectors:

Olav Cuiper

Olav Cuiper is a seasoned leader in the international insurance industry with over 35 years of experience. Olav served on the Executive committee of RGA Inc. as the former Executive Vice President and Global Chief Client Officer at RGA Inc., he led the Global Client Office (client strategies, global clients, ventures and partnerships, Innovation).  

Prior to that Olav successfully led the EMEA region between 2011 and 2021, after joining the company in 2009 as Managing Director of the Netherlands & Nordics office. The growth of the business over his tenure as EVP and CEO of EMEA is testament to his vision and leadership. 

Before RGA, Olav held Managing (statutory) Director roles at Fortis Insurance International and Delta Lloyd Life Insurance NV. His strategic vision and leadership have consistently delivered strong business results, establishing him as a key figure in the financial services and insurance sector. He now offers strategic counsel to C-suites in the international (re)insurance industry through Cuiper Capital bv and serves on several boards. 

Howard Gough

Howard Gough has over 24 years of leadership experience in global healthcare and insurance across EMEA, APAC and the US. As a former regional CEO for Cigna – (a NYSE-listed Fortune 20 company) - he led the company’s strategic expansion globally, overseeing a multi-billion-dollar portfolio. Howard was instrumental in Cigna’s growth into a global healthcare leader through mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Now leading the Advisory and Mentoring practices at Emica Consulting, Howard brings his extensive experience to provide strategic guidance to top-tier global organizations and executive teams. Howard also mentors C-suite executives and guides disruptive Health Tech companies in the GCC. 

Tjaart Esterhuyse

Tjaart Esterhuyse is a distinguished actuary with 25 years of experience in insurance and reinsurance. As the former Managing Director of RGA South Africa, he drove the company to lead the NMG Business Capability Index for 11 consecutive years, achieving a nearly 20% annual growth in gross premiums. Tjaart also led RGA’s EMEA innovation team, pushing the boundaries of insurance solutions. His leadership roles extend to being President of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and key positions at Metropolitan South Africa, underlining his profound influence in the industry. He also serves as a non-executive director on a few Boards of Directors.  

Kees van Lede

Kees van Lede is a co-Founder and former Group CEO of CarePay and has lived in and worked extensively across Africa and Europe in the FMCG and Technology sectors. Prior to becoming Group CEO of CarePay, Kees held various leadership positions within the CarePay Group, including Group CFO and CEO of CarePay Kenya. Kees has also worked for PharmAccess Foundation, Guidion and Unilever. He holds a master's degree in applied physics from Delft Technical University and an MBA from INSEAD Business School.

Maarten Ras

Maarten Ras is the former Chief Commercial Officer of CarePay, where he played a pivotal role in driving the company's commercial success, growth, and impact through innovative strategies focused on digitization and transformation in the health insurance world. Maarten continues to contribute to CarePay's expansion as a member of the Growth Advisory Board.  

With extensive experience across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Maarten has a strong background in diverse sectors such as financial services, banking, healthcare and technology. He has experience at large corporates but also in start and scale ups due to his time at CarePay. Prior to CarePay, he served as Director of Trade & Commodity Finance at Rabobank Africa and Rabobank International, where he was involved in setting up Rabobank’s greenfield office in Kenya. Maarten is passionate about harnessing the power of digital transformation to drive sustainable growth and improve access to essential services in emerging markets.  

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