Climate insurtech gains funds to grow parametric solutions in Asia and Africa
Climate-focused insurtech Ibisa has closed a $3 million funding round to scale its parametric insurance solutions for weather-related risks in Asia and Africa.
The round was led by The Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and Equator, alongside the Asian Development Bank Ventures (ADBV) and existing investors including Ankur Capital.
The investment is designed to make parametric insurance more accessible. The funding also aims to enable Ibisa to build more products and expand further into emerging markets.
Ibisa designs and operates parametric insurance products for regions where communities are impacted by extreme weather events. These include agricultural-focused insurance products, typhoon insurance, and loan protection for financial institutions. It has also developed a heat stress product insurance initially designed for dairy farmers, primarily in India, that is currently being expanded in other countries, such as Bangladesh.
The company said the global cost of extreme weather events on agriculture is estimated to be between $10-15 billion annually, citing a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
Maria Mateo, chief executive officer of Ibisa, said: “Since the beginning at IBISA, we have functioned with great agility as product innovators and bringing these products to market efficiently. This is what drives us. This is our DNA. Now, we are entering the industrialisation phase of our journey. With the backing of this fundraising effort and the support of both existing and new investors, our goal is to amplify our product offerings, expand within our current markets, and explore new markets.”
Tamer El-Raghy, managing director of ARAF, added: “We're honoured to co-lead this investment round in IBISA with Equator and excited to partner with a world-class entrepreneur like Maria. African farmers are among the most negatively impacted by climate change and the need for low-cost parametric insurance products is a must-to-have for those farmers to be able to absorb a climate shock and IBISA's cutting-edge technology helps developing low-cost insurance products for those farmers. This investment is an invaluable addition to ARAF's portfolio and we look forward to supporting IBISA's regional growth.’
Nijhad Jamal, managing partner of Equator, commented: “Investing in IBISA aligns with our strategy to back innovative ventures providing critical climate adaptation products and services. IBISA's technology and business model specifically enable it to scale access to a broad range of affordable parametric insurance products across emerging markets.”
Thitirat Sittakaradej of ADB Ventures states: “IBISA's cutting-edge approach leverages satellite data analytics and advanced risk modelling to make parametric insurance accessible and affordable for climate-vulnerable communities. In Asia and the Pacific, where increasingly frequent climate events often go uninsured, there is a growing need for platforms like IBISA that deliver fit-for-purpose solutions designed to seamlessly integrate with distribution channels. We are excited to support IBISA in its mission to advance climate risk insurance, a crucial way of fostering meaningful climate resilience in the region.”
Ritu Verma, managing partner at Ankur Capital, said: “It's been an exciting journey working closely with IBISA over the last two years, as they leveraged their deep technical expertise in parametric insurance to scale their offerings and launch innovative new products to ensure vulnerable communities and small businesses against adverse climate events. We look forward to continuing our support to IBISA's vision of transforming climate insurance across Asia, Africa and the Pacific.”
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