Arbol’s climate data network dClimate gets Mark Cuban investment

Things are hotting up in the weather risk management and parametric risk transfer technology space and Arbol, a smart contract, parametric risk transfer and weather insurance marketplace technology provider is one of the companies leading the charge.

Arbol’s founders have launched dClimate, a decentralized network for climate data and now received recognition from a major venture investment player, entrepreneur Mark Cuban who’s venture capital group, Radical Investments has invested in dClimate and Cuban himself has signed on as a strategic advisor.

“From insurance products that payout based on rainfall data to tools that allow ESG programs to measure carbon footprint, dClimate can be the go-to platform for every organization that uses or builds with climate data,” Cuban explained. “I’m excited to be working with a team that is using blockchain and smart contracts to solve a pressing, real-world problem and that is building a platform to help organizations around the world build climate resilience.”

“Climate and weather datasets are crucial to the planning and product infrastructure of so many businesses, governments, and other entities exposed to weather throughout the world, yet this space is highly fragmented and lacks standardization and transparency in many key areas,” added Sid Jha, a founding partner of dClimate and also of Arbol.

“With damages from weather disasters increasing each year and 70 percent of businesses globally estimated to be impacted by weather, the need for a standardized, user-friendly marketplace that incentivizes greater openness and innovation in the climate data ecosystem has never been greater. We are privileged that an investor and entrepreneur of Mark’s caliber and stature understands the need for dClimate and is committed to help build and grow this network to benefit the many stakeholders who use and rely on this critical information about our planet,” Jha said.

Provision of as near to real-time as possible, trusted and reliable climate data is going to drive significant innovation opportunities for the insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) space.

This is true both in the way this data can be used to help understand risks, as well as in how it can be used embedded within the triggers of risk transfer, insurance and reinsurance arrangements.

dClimate wants to become, “The premier platform where businesses and entities can go to retrieve the climate data and forecasts they need to build new products and plan for future weather disasters and where publishers can go to house and monetize their work product.”

A lofty goal, but one that can only help to expand awareness and opportunities to all in the risk space, especially as climate related risk transfer becomes increasingly embedded into activities related to climate adaptation and mitigation.

Separately, furnishing corporations, asset owners and asset gatherers with data and tools to help them measure and understand their exposure to climate related risks can only drive more uptake of weather risk management, insurance and reinsurance solutions, as a way to manage the potential financial exposures they face and to carve risk out of their portfolios and holdings.

For Arbol, putting together data from multiple sources that it can leverage within its smart contract focused parametric weather risk transfer technologies, could be an interesting way for the company to broaden its offering, while helping to expose climate data providers to new users and markets.

Also read:

– Arbol hires Guo from GC Securities as Chief Insurance Officer.

– Arbol taps machinery sensors for parametric crop insurance triggers.

– Arbol raises $7m Series A for parametric weather risk platform.

– Arbol lines up $250m non-traditional capacity, targets $1bn+ next year.

– Arbol acquires eWeatherRisk, aims to revolutionise weather risk transfer market.