BlackFin is a sector-focused fund, specializing in Financial Services in Europe.The firm’s strategy focuses on asset-light (as opposed to balance-sheet intensive) businesses in the financial services sector, across continental Europe. BlackFin operates as an active and influential investor, substantially transforming its portfolio companies by growing them organically, improving operating margins and also through an active buy and build strategy. The firm supports successful management teams to take their businesses to the next level.

BlackFin Capital Partners

Serena is one of Europe's leading venture capital funds, with $750m under management. Founded in 2008, Serena invests at early stages, from seed to series B, and supports the success of innovative and ambitious entrepreneurs to service a better world. Born of the profound conviction that a venture capital fund should be at the service of its portfolio companies, Serena has set up the largest operational support team in Europe and the most active startup community, the Serena Squad, with more than 550 active C-levels. Serena has a strong focus on AI, SaaS, Climate Tech, Digital Transformation, and Impact. Serena has invested in more than 100 startups with several international success stories such as Dataiku, Malt, The Fork, Electra, Descartes Underwriting, Accenta, Lifen, and AramisAuto. Combating climate change, protecting biodiversity, promoting sustainability, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of Serena's DNA.

Serena

Cathay Innovation is a global venture capital firm, created in affiliation with Cathay Capital, investing in startups at the center of digital revolution across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Its global platform unifies technology investment across continents, investors, entrepreneurs and leading corporations to accelerate startup growth with access to new markets, invaluable industry knowledge and introductions to potential partners from the start. As a multistage fund with over $1.5 billion assets under management and offices across San Francisco, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, Cathay Innovation partners with visionary entrepreneurs and startups positively impacting the world through technology.  To learn more, please visit www.cathayinnovation.com or follow us on Twitter @Cathayinnov.

Cathay Innovation

Highland Europe invests in rapidly growing European internet, mobile, and software companies that address large market opportunities and have over €10 million in annualized revenues. They can provide acquisition finance or lead secondary transactions as well as making primary investments. Their capital enables management teams to accelerate growth and build a lasting, valuable business. Highland Europe was launched in 2012 and closely collaborates with Highland Capital Partners, an independent global venture capital firm with a twenty-seven year investment experience and offices in Boston and Palo Alto.

Highland Europe

Eurazeo is a private equity and venture capital firm that invests in SMEs and manages a diversified portfolio of assets. With its expertise in private equity, real estate, and private debt, the group supports companies of all sizes in their development commitment through the commitment of its 235 professionals. It provides companies with the necessary investments needed to realize their growth potential. The firm was founded in 1969 and is based in Paris, Ile-de-France, France.

Eurazeo

Seaya is a leading European Venture Capital platform that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building global technology companies. Seaya raised its first funding in 2013 and currently manages over €600 million across five early-stage venture funds. Seaya accelerates the growth of startups by leveraging the founder’s strategic vision, providing them with Seaya’s global platform, its extensive network of founders, investors and multinational corporations, as well as all its experience in the global expansion of companies such as Glovo, Cabify, Wallbox (NYSE:WBX), Spotahome, Clarity AI, Clicars, Alma and RatedPower. Learn more at seaya.vc.

Seaya

Alma Mundi Ventures is a venture capital firm that funds primarily technology-based companies with B2B and B2B2C business models. The firms' third fund is an InsurTech Venture Fund with a European focus, backed by leading European international insurance companies and Mutuality Funds, investing between 1M and 7M in Series A, B, and C of leading European insurance startups. AMV is headquartered in Madrid but with an operational presence in Barcelona, London and Seattle.

Alma Mundi Ventures

Descartes Underwriting

The climate is changing and new risks are emerging, yet the insurance industry is neither structured nor prepared to meet the evolving challenges clients face. Descartes' mission is to provide best-in-class, climate tech driven parametric insurance for every corporate and government, in every region of the world. We exist so that businesses and society can have trust in their coverage and continuity despite the next disaster. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Paris, with international offices located in London, Madrid, Frankfurt, New York, Sydney, Singapore, & Hong Kong

Descartes Underwriting is a parametric insurance company focusing on climate risk. The company uses AI and machine learning to price climate risks based on IoT, satellite imagery, stationary sensors, radar, and third-party data.

Climate Risk Analytics

Big Interview: Ola Jacob, Descartes Underwriting and Biba

Descartes Underwriting is a parametric insurance company focusing on climate risk. The company uses AI and machine learning to price climate risks based on IoT, satellite imagery, stationary sensors, radar, and third-party data.Descartes collaborates with insurance brokers to protect corporate and public sector clients against natural catastrophes. The company offers insurance policies covering natural catastrophes (cyclone, food, hail, earthquake, wildfire, tsunami), agriculture and forestry (yield, drought, frost, excess rain), energy (lack or excess rainfall, wind, or solar radiations), and other industries (supply chain, construction delays).Key customers and partnershipsIn October 2021, Descartes partnered with ICEYE, a provider of flood hazard data, to deploy the latter’s advanced flood observation technology to expand the offering of parametric flood insurance. Following this, in November 2021, Descartes collaborated with Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation, an Italian non-profit organization to scale up earthquake parametric insurance for policyholders. In February 2022, the company partnered with Reask, an Australian tropical-cyclone risk analytics firm, to expand global cyclone parametric coverage by optimizing Reask’s wind speed data.As of June 2024, 400+ corporate and public sector clients, including Fortune 500 companies, had chosen Descartes to insure against climate risks, with a geographical coverage across 60+ countries; 16 offices in 9 countries worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Oceania.Funding and financialsDescartes’ most recent funding round was in January 2022, when it raised USD 120 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Eurazeo and Highland Europe. The proceeds were to be used to support global expansion while expanding into new market segments.

Tomorrow.io (formerly called ClimaCell) is a short-term weather analytics platform, serving businesses across a wide range of industries, including aviation, energy, insurance, on-demand companies, professional sports and venues, and logistics, as well as government agencies globally.The company’s proprietary Weather and Climate Security platform uses machine learning to translate hyperlocal forecasts into actionable insights for business decision-making. The platform aggregates real-time data from existing numerical weather prediction models to provide customized climate risk dashboards and alerts for businesses using AI and machine learning. Tomorrow.io’s key value proposition is its five-day advanced warning on adverse weather.In May 2023, the company launched its first satellite, Tomorrow-R1, the world’s first commercially built weather-radar satellite. Tomorrow.io launched a second satellite (R2) in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19726">June 2023 </a>. This makes Tomorrow.io the first company to launch precipitation radar-equipped satellites following NASA’s GPM satellite.Key customers and partnershipsTomorrow.io was serving 1,000+ customers as of November 2022, which included some high-profile clients such as Microsoft, Uber Technologies, Ford Motor Company, Delta Airlines, JetBlue Airways, National Grid and the U.S. Air Force.Funding and financialsTomorrow.io’s most recent funding was in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19726">June 2023 </a>, when it raised USD 87 million in a Series E funding round led by Activate Capital. The funds were used to launch the complete constellation of 20 satellites. In March 2021, Tomorrow.io raised USD 77 million in a Series D funding round led by Stonecourt Capital, to launch more radar-equipped satellites and to improve the company's overall product offering.

Tomorrow.io

Climavision offers an AI-powered radar-as-a-service solution to provide real-time weather prediction models and analytics. Climavision was a spin-off of Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC), a weather radar and satellite service provider. The company develops a private network of weather radars and satellites to fill in the coverage gaps across existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service (NWS) systems. This reportedly allows Climavision to collect additional data points to provide more accurate weather predictions than those solutions that only use legacy weather data.Climavision’s product offering includes Radar-As-A-Service (RaaS), Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS Radio Occultation (RO), and Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS-RO+ Radar. 1) RaaS provides real-time weather data, via Climavision's proprietary sensing network. 2) Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS-RO is a numerical weather prediction model. 3) Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS-RO+ Radar leverages the real-time power of Climavision’s sensing network. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21793">September 2023</a>, Climavision installed its weather X-Band weather radar system in Alabama, to fill a low-level coverage gap in the Appalachian Plateau region. &nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30169">June 2024</a>, the company launched a new product suite called Horizon AI to support the renewable energy sector. The suite improves the accuracy and scope of forecasting models by integrating machine learning and AI-based tools.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30156">May 2024</a>, Climavision acquired Intersphere, a sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) weather forecasting platform (up to a year in advance), to enhance AI-powered weather prediction.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2022, the company partnered with GE Digital, a provider of machine data to produce analytics and insights, to support the latter’s customers, improve their weather prediction ability, and better plan for severe storm events. Previously, in February 2022, the company added Cargill, a food and agricultural company to its customer portfolio.In June 2021, Climavision also entered into a strategic collaboration with GeoOptics, an Earth remote-sensing provider, to improve its weather forecasting solutions.Funding and financialsClimavision’s most recent funding round was in June 2021, when it raised USD 100 million in a Series A funding round led by The Rise Fund.

Climavision

Jupiter Intelligence provides climate risk analytics solutions across private and public sectors by incorporating AI and machine learning for predictive climate modeling. Jupiter covers a range of natural disasters such as flood, wind, heat, cold, wildfire, drought and water stress, hail, and extreme precipitation.As of November 2022, the company offered its solutions across 30+ companies in the Global 2000, US Department of Defense, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Jupiter serves across 20 sectors including banking, chemicals, insurance, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and construction and provides customers with access to nearly 150 trillion data fields using cloud-based supercomputing. The company offers its risk analytics solutions via web-based applications, reports, through an API, and consulting engagements.Jupiter’s ClimateScore Intelligence Platform claims to predict natural disasters from one-hour to 50+ years in advance. The company also offers a ClimateScore Planning suite, which includes FloodScore, HeatScore, WindScore, FireScore and ClimateScore Global solutions for climate risk assessment. As of November 2022, Jupiter’s platform was priced at USD 1 million per year and upward.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2022, the company partnered with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to incorporate Jupiter’s climate analytics into BCG’s ClimateImpact.AI platform. In August 2022, Jupiter collaborated with Aon, a professional services firm, to address climate change for financial institutions’ balance sheets, identification of climate risks, and quantification of climate-related disclosure regulations. In January 2023, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15706">FORVIS </a>, an accounting and advisory company, to develop a climate risk modeling tool. In March 2024, Jupiter entered into a strategic agreement with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27657">Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) </a>, an NYSE-listed real estate and investment management company, to provide AI-powered climate risk analytics for properties and portfolios. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33631">September 2024</a>, the company partnered with DNV, an assurance and risk management provider, to launch climate-driven hail risk service for solar PV across North America.&nbsp;Jupiter’s customers include Hawaiian Electric, Zurich, conEdison, bp, Liberty Mutual, QBE, MS&amp;AS Insurance, Terna, Bephila, New York City, City of Miami, NASA, and US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Jupiter Intelligence

ClimateAi provides climate risk modeling solutions across global supply chains. The company states that its digital platform monitors short-term, seasonal, and long-term climate risks, ranging from one day to 50+ years into the future. ClimateAi’s proprietary AI modeling platform optimizes supply chain operations from production planning, demand estimation, and inventory management to ensure minimum climate disruption across supply chains. The company also launched its Enterprise Climate Planning (ECP) platform, to quantify climate impacts and provide business-specific insights in order to mitigate climate risks across supply chains.Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2022, the company was working with 20+ food and agricultural companies across 35 countries.Funding and financialsClimateAi’s most recent funding was in April 2023, when it raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17753">USD 22 million </a>in a Series B funding round led by Four Rivers Group. Previously in July 2021, the company raised USD 12 million in a Series A funding round led by Radical Ventures. The proceeds were utilized to expand its platform offering from existing food and agricultural companies to other industry supply chains. Part of the funds were also used to expand the company’s geographical footprint across India and Japan.

ClimateAi

Floodbase (formerly Cloud to street (C2S)) is a flood intelligence platform powered by satellites, machine learning, and on-the-ground observation data to track flood-events in real time. The company’s proprietary satellite imagery, historical data, and flood modeling provide governments and insurance companies with precise data to monitor people and assets at risk, identify blocked roads, and measure property and agricultural damage. The company utilizes 15 satellites to gather flood data.Floodbase also offers a Global Flood Database, a free and an open-sourced platform, which has mapped nearly 913 flood events across 169 countries globally as of November 2022.Key customers and partnershipsFloodbase supported 28 governments and institutions as of November 2022. The company’s customers include WillisRe, an insurance subsidiary of Willis Towers Watson. WillisRe adopted C2S’s platform to optimize its actuarial models in markets like Indonesia.In June 2022, the company partnered with two parametric insurance platforms, Raincoat and Munich Re Group, to deploy the world’s first parametric flood insurance program. Since then, Raincoat has leveraged Floodbase’s flood data to develop a platform that allows payouts to insured farmers within days of a disaster. In October 2023, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates?industryIds=124">Ag Guard </a>to provide parametric flood insurance programs for farmers and governments in Australia and New Zealand in 2024. In December 2023, Floodbase collaborated with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24786">Oneglobal </a>, a UK-based insurance broker, to provide flood insurance solutions for the Asian market. In January 2024, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25834">Capella Space</a>,, a space tech firm, to leverage high-resolution satellite data for parametric insurance payouts. In August 2024, Floodbase partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32691">Amwins</a>, a specialty insurance distributor, to launch the Tees-to-Green flood insurance program for US golf courses, and in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34663">October 2024</a> launched a flood insurance program for California municipalities.Funding and financialsThe company’s most recent funding was in January 2023, when it raised USD 12 million in a Series A funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital, alongside participation from Collaborative Fund, Floating Point, and Vidavo.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Floodbase

Forecasts weather for up to 14 days by using AI/ ML solutions

Forecasts weather for up to 14 days by using other next-generation solutions

Forecasts long-term climate risks (for up to ~50-80 years into the future) by using AI/ ML solutions

Forecasts long-term climate risks (for up to ~50-80 years into the future) by using other next-generation solutions

Provides long-term climate risk analytics to cover the gap in traditional insurance products

Provides climate risk scores for third-parties

Uses AI/ML tools to forecast climate risks for up to ~50–80 years

Provides tools to identify future hazards to protect industries like agri and insurance

<div>
 
 Descartes Underwriting, a French parametric insurance provider, has expanded its US presence by opening two new offices in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Richmond, Virginia, making a total of eight US offices.
 The company's global operation now includes 16 worldwide offices located in regions such as Europe, Asia, and Oceania, employing 200 individuals globally.
 
</div>

Descartes Underwriting

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