Floodbase, a climate adaptation technology company that provides precise, near real-time data and analysis on flooding and flood risk, today announced its new brand. The company also launched a new feature that enables insurers to add flood protection to existing wind parametric policies, creating the first-ever comprehensive hurricane parametric insurance offerings.
As climate change makes storms stronger and wetter, Floodbase’s flood data makes it possible for insurers to offer residential and commercial policyholders protection against hurricane flood damage. The rebrand and feature launch coincide with Floodbase’s Series A funding round totalling $12 million, which was led by Lowercarbon Capital with participation from Collaborative Fund, Floating Point and Vidavo.
“The world needs innovative financial and insurance tools if we are to have any hope of adapting to climate change. We are proud to be the leading calculation agent for parametric flood insurance, and now add flood protection to expand the coverage of parametric hurricane policies as well,” said Bessie Schwarz, CEO and Co-Founder of Floodbase. “This technology will enable the expansion of flood insurance to every corner of the globe, and bridge a protection gap that cannot be closed without parametric insurance. It is an exciting milestone for our company that we are proud to mark with a new brand and successful Series A funding round.”
“Global warming leads to more water in the atmosphere, more water leads to heavier storms, heavier storms lead to greater flooding, and the predictable outcome is that hundreds of millions of people all over the world are newly at risk,” said Clay Dumas, general partner and co-founder at Lowercarbon Capital. “The best protection is insurance, and Floodbase makes it possible for the world’s largest insurers to extend coverage to parts of the world that were previously uninsurable. This isn’t just a matter of humanitarian urgency, it’s a generational opportunity in global risk markets.”
Floodbase’s newest parametric flood insurance solution addresses a major shortcoming in flood triggers in existing parametric hurricane policies, and will be available to layer on top of those policies. “Floodbase recognizes the need to accurately measure and insure against the flood element in existing parametric hurricane insurance policies, which currently cover just wind,” said Peter Lacovara, parametric insurance expert and Head of Commercial at Floodbase. “Layering Floodbase onto existing parametric hurricane policies will protect policyholders against the impacts of devastating flooding that typically causes the most damage during hurricane events.”
“Parametric flood insurance is a critical tool for making communities and industries more resilient to climate-driven flood impacts, especially the agro-industrial sector that we invest in,” said Diego Casanello, Managing Partner at Vidavo. “There’s a direct line from Floodbase’s technology to risk mitigation for 500 million uninsured farmers worldwide.”
Founded in 2021, Floodbase integrates satellite observations of Earth with hydrological data and decades of historical flood information to consistently measure and monitor global flood risk in near real-time based on actual events, not just models. This enables insurers to profitably underwrite and trigger parametric flood insurance. As a result, policyholders receive payouts that more accurately match their needs for post-flood recovery and receive them much more quickly than payouts from adjustment-based policies. Floodbase’s technology has allowed coverage to be extended to individuals who have never had access before, such as the flood insurance program the company helped create for Colombian farmers in 2022.
Parametric insurance policies have become common for hurricanes and earthquakes, providing needed protection for those affected by these disasters. Parametric flood insurance, however, has historically been impossible to implement due to a lack of real-time flood monitoring technology and data, a barrier removed by Floodbase’s technology.
About Floodbase: Floodbase is a climate adaptation technology company that provides precise, near real-time data and analysis on flooding and flood risk. Powered by 15 satellites, machine learning, and on-the-ground data, Floodbase’s technology provides better data to insurance companies and governments to inform better flood preparedness and recovery decisions. Led by top scientists in hydrology and spatial analysis fields, Floodbase offers access to the most cost-effective and actionable flood insights on the market. Floodbase’s unique combination of satellite imagery, historical data, and modeling can produce precise predictions of flood locations and severity to create new options for the previously-uninsured as well as near-real-time measurements of flooding events to inform parametric policy payouts. Floodbase is backed by Lowercarbon Capital and Collaborative Fund. Their work has been featured on the cover of the peer-reviewed journal Nature.
About Lowercarbon Capital: Lowercarbon Capital is a climate-tech focused fund founded by venture capital veterans Chris Sacca and Clay Dumas. The fund invests in companies that are focused on reducing CO2 and related gases in the atmosphere.
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