Cloud to Street (C2S), a climate adaptation technology company that provides precise, near real-time intelligence on flooding and flood risk, today announced its partnership with parametric insurance platform Raincoat and Munich Re Group to roll out the world’s first at-scale parametric flood insurance program. This is the first country-level flood parametric program with local payouts and will provide coverage to smallholder farmers across Colombia. Powered by C2S’ industry-leading flood intelligence, the collaboration marks the first major success of a flood parametric program created for climate adaptation and intended to eliminate a persistent global coverage gap.
“Global flooding threatens billions of people and remains the most common and costly natural peril”
“Global flooding threatens billions of people and remains the most common and costly natural peril,” says Peter Lacovara, parametric insurance expert and Head of Commercial at C2S. “Worsening climate change underscores the need to prioritize climate adaptation and financial solutions to support those affected by natural disasters. We couldn’t be prouder to help make insurance protection available to over 100,000 Colombian farmers for the first time, and we’re poised to assist in building similar parametric flood insurance programs worldwide.”
Parametric insurance is an alternative approach to insurance policy design and claims payment that is gaining popularity as climate change increases risks across all geographies. Parametric insurance policies insure a policyholder against the occurrence of a specific event by paying a set amount based on the magnitude of the event instead of the physical damages incurred. Under the new program in Colombia, insured farmers will receive loan relief based on the magnitude of floods that hinder their abilities to grow their crops and bring them to market. Parametric insurance allows for previously uninsurable risk to be covered, and frictionless claims payments, largely due to the fact that they do not require physical inspection of damages by an adjuster to trigger a payout. As a country-wide parametric flood program, farmers in even the most remote parts of Colombia will now receive immediate financial relief following a flood disaster.
Cloud to Street combines several flood data streams–including optical and radar satellites, historical flood maps, and on-the-ground intelligence—with machine learning to deliver vital and actionable intelligence about the extent and impact of ongoing flood events. The company provides insurers and disaster risk holders with previously inaccessible data to insure new markets, respond to emergencies, and plan for future flood risk. Insurance companies use C2S’ data to better understand and underwrite flood risk, and monitor and react to flood events as they evolve. For the Colombia program, Cloud to Street’s data enabled partners to set the specific parameters for flood risk that made the creation of fair, comprehensive parametric policies possible. Using the data from C2S, Raincoat was able to provide a product and platform that allows payouts to insured farmers within days of a disaster, without them having to file a claim.
About Cloud to Street:
Cloud to Street (C2S) 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, C2S’ 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, C2S offers access to the most cost-effective and actionable flood insights on the market. C2S’ unique combination of satellite imagery, historical data, and modeling can produce precise predictions of flood locations and severity to provide life-changing insurance products for the previously-uninsured as well as near-real-time measurements of flooding events to inform parametric policy payouts. Cloud to Street is backed by Lowercarbon Capital and Collaborative Fund and recently had their work featured on the cover of the peer-reviewed journal Nature.
About Raincoat:
Raincoat develops highly-scalable embedded climate insurance products in collaboration with insurers, financial institutions, and governments. Raincoat aims to democratize financial resilience in the face of natural disaster. For more information visit: https://www.getraincoat.com