The Climate Corporation
| File:The Climate Corporation Logo2.jpg | |
| Industry | Financial Services |
|---|---|
| Fate | acquired by Monsanto (2013) |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA, USA |
|
Key people
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| Website | climate |
The Climate Corporation is a San Francisco-based company that examines weather data to provide insurance to farmers who can lock in profits even in the case of drought, heavy rains or other adverse weather conditions.[1]
Contents
History
The company was founded as WeatherBill in 2006 by two former Google employees, David Friedberg and Siraj Khaliq. The first hires were Alex Michalka (Statistics/Modeling) and Greg Pelly (Engineering).
The company began as a startup focused on helping people and businesses manage and adapt to climate change, by providing weather insurance to ski resorts, large event venues, and farmers. In 2010 it decided to focus exclusively on agriculture, and launched the Total Weather Insurance Product in fall 2010 for corn and soybeans.[2][3]
On October 11, 2011, the company changed its name from WeatherBill to The Climate Corporation and announced that former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan had joined its Board of Directors.[4][5]
In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency authorized the Climate Corporation to administer federal crop insurance policies for the 2014 crop year.[6]
In October, 2013 Monsanto announced that it was acquiring the company for approximately $1.1 billion.[7]
In November 2013 the company launched Climate Basic and Climate Pro, a set of advisory tools for farmers utilizing data science to help farmers make optimal decisions.[8]
In February 2014 the company announced it merged with Monsanto’s Integrated Farming System and Precision Planting divisions.[9] In February 2014 the company also acquired Solum, a soil-testing company based in Ames, Iowa.[10]
Investors and underwriters
On February 28, 2011, The Climate Corporation announced a $42 million Series B funding with new investors Khosla Ventures and Google Ventures joining New Enterprise Associates, Index Ventures, Allen & Company, First Round Capital, Atomico, and Code Advisors in the financing round. The capital was reportedly used to fund the company’s product and sales expansion in the United States and internationally.[11]
An additional $50 million of Series C funding was announced on the company's web site on June 14, 2012.[12]
Products
The Climate Corporation combines big data,[13] climatology and agronomy to protect the $3 trillion global agriculture industry from increasingly extreme weather with fully automated weather insurance products.[14]
The company’s Total Weather Insurance (TWI) product addresses farmers' exposure to financial loss even when they fully utilize federal crop insurance. TWI protects farmers against weather events that cause production shortfalls, before multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) kicks in. Unlike MPCI, which requires verification and inspection prior to payment for damages, The Climate Corporation automatically sends payment when specified weather conditions occur, as measured by independent sources such as the National Weather Service.[15]
All of the company's insurance products are approved in all 50 U.S. states and was awarded an "A" rating by A.M. Best.[16]
Technology
The Climate Corporation’s platform ingests weather measurements from 2.5 million locations and forecasts from major climate models on a daily basis, and processes that data along with 150 billion soil observations to generate 10 trillion weather simulation data points used in the company's weather insurance pricing and risk analysis systems. The company manages over 50 terabytes of live data at any given time.[17]
Further reading
- “WeatherBill morphs brand to focus on climate”, “Gigaom.com”, October 10, 2011
- “Insuring against extreme weather”, “FutureOfTech.msnbc.msn.com”, October 10, 2011
- “Fill the Gap”, “AgWeb.com”, November 16, 2011
- “Climate Corporation offers precise weather insurance coverage”, “FarmIndustryNews.com”, November 3, 2011
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- “Weather Insurance Reinvented: Coverage Fills Cracks in Crop Insurance”, “DTNProgressiveFarmer.com”, November 2, 2011
- “Data Powers New Insurance Product”, “FarmFutures.com”, November 1, 2011
- Specter, Michael. “Climate by Numbers: Can a tech firm help farmers survive global warming?”, “The New Yorker”, November 11, 2013, pp. 38-43
References
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- ↑ Insuring for Extreme Weather
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- ↑ Financial Strength
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