Thrilled to be part of Descartes Underwriting $18.5m Series A

18 months after we first led the Insurtech seed round, we are glad to announce our new investment in Descartes Underwriting, alongside Serena and Cathay Innovation.

Today more than ever, we are firmly convinced that parametric insurance is utterly relevant for companies that need to be covered against natural disasters, in a more affordable and transparent way than with traditional insurance.

What happened to Descartes Underwriting during those past 18 months?

First, the 3 founders hired an international team of 20 data scientists and parametric insurance experts to scale their product abroad. And it worked: since Descartes’ commercial launch last year, it served 100 customers on 5 continents — making it one of the fastest growing insurtech globally.

Today, Descartes Underwriting’s solution is live in 20 countries, and makes more than 90% of its revenues abroad. In May, Tanguy Touffut and his team signed a strategic partnership with Generali, one of the leading insurance company in the world. Besides, it closed deals with 10 risk carriers — insurer, reinsurers and ILS funds.

COVID-19 did not impact Descartes Underwriting’s business — in fact, it accelerated its growth. Companies are looking for more affordable insurance coverage, and are ready to cover only the main risks, Descartes Underwriting’s parametric products are well-tied to these new needs.

Why we decided to double down on parametric insurance and support Descartes Underwriting through their journey

In the current chaotic situation, where environmental issues are more patent everyday, Descartes Underwriting is one of the few companies able to offer insurance coverage for climate change related risks (drought, flood, hurricanes, wildfire). Unfortunately, it is — and it is likely to be more and more — a fast growing market.

Yet very few new players succeed in entering the $50bn+ corporate & governmental insurance market. Based on that, Descartes Underwriting has the opportunity to become the leading insurtech player in this market.

As a matter of fact, only a super strong team can deliver such a stellar growth. Tanguy, Kevin, Sébastien, Violaine and their teammates have impressed us with heir ability to execute a carefully defined long term vision. Last but not least, we’ve enjoyed a lot working with them for the past 18 months! And this is only the beginning!