Battery Ventures, a global technology-focused investment firm, has made a strategic investment in Descartes Underwriting, a global corporate parametric insurance specialist.
The transaction was executed at a premium to Descartes’ most recent Series B valuation. It allows Battery to join the company’s shareholder base, while all existing investors retain a large majority of their holdings.
As part of the deal, Marcus Ryu, Partner at Battery Ventures and former CEO and co-founder of Guidewire Software, will join Descartes as a board observer.
Tanguy Touffut, CEO and co-founder, said, “Over the past six years, Descartes has established itself as the leading parametric insurance business for climate-related risks, remaining true to our scientific approach to risk transfer. As we scale globally to address the widening protection gap around natural disasters, we’re thrilled to welcome Marcus — one of the world’s most accomplished Insurtech entrepreneurs — whose experience and vision will be invaluable as we execute our ambitious roadmap.
“Battery’s investment is a major endorsement of our mission and a strong signal of our commitment to the North American market, already our largest market.”
Ryu added, “Over twenty years of serving the global P&C insurance industry informs my keen interest in applying technology to address the enormous underinsurance gap. Parametric insurance is one of — if not the — most promising approaches to transfer risk efficiently, and like many industry participants I believe it will continue to grow in importance and adoption. The team at Descartes Underwriting is uniquely credentialed in this domain, and I am very impressed with the market and thought leadership position they have built with brokers, capacity partners and insureds in a short period.”
The post Descartes Underwriting secures investment from Battery Ventures appeared first on ReinsuranceNe.ws.