BirdsEyeView funded for AI & satellite data parametric insurance

Insurtech startup BirdsEyeView has announced the successful closing of a seed funding round to support its development of technology to deliver parametric insurance solutions using artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite data.

The seed funding round was led by SFC Capital, and was matched by the European Space Agency (ESA), providing a vote of confidence in the insurtech from the space observation sector.

The company sees an opportunity to double-down on using technology to structure parametric insurance solutions for severe weather based on satellite data.

It’s a relatively busy segment of the parametric insurance market now, with numerous start-ups targeting provision of new coverage solutions to help protect individuals and businesses against catastrophe, severe weather and climate risk, but BirdsEyeView seems focused on the structuring of solutions that work for the end-user, rather than delivery of more standard parametric structures, which we’re seeing a plethora of today.

Specifically, BirdsEyeView is targeting the small to medium enterprise (SME) space, saying that parametric insurance options are already in use by large companies, but with climate change induced changes to extreme weather patterns, the opportunity to expand parametric insurance to a broader range of customers now exists.

BirdsEyeView structures weather-event based insurance products with parametric triggers using a proprietary algorithmic underwriting engine named RAPTOR™.

The technology takes inputs from meteorological data gathered by the likes of European Space Agency and NASA, processing it using AI to structure parametric products that pay out based on the weather event itself, instead of the actual losses of the policyholder.

James Rendell, CEO and co-founder of BirdsEyeView said, “We are very excited about working with SFC Capital to further develop our RAPTOR™ technology, which is going to help both insurers and policy holders get better and more accurate insurance services. SFC has a lot of experience working with early stage startups and their knowledge will be very useful as we continue to develop the technology and grow as a business.”

Ed Stevenson, Investment Manager at SFC Capital added, “The insurance industry is changing and adapting to the world as it evolves. Climate change is a challenge for many industries and it is innovative technology like BirdsEyeView that will help the industry to move forward. We are very excited to be a part of BirdsEyeView’s growth journey and look forward to supporting the team in as many ways as possible.”