31/01/2022
Press release
DESCARTES UNDERWRITING RAISES $120 MILLION TO BECOME A CATEGORY LEADER IN CORPORATE INSURANCE WORLDWIDE.
Descartes Underwriting, the InsurTech company specializing in next-generation corporate insurance solutions to address climate and emerging risks, announces a $120 million Series B funding round. Growth equity firm Highland Europe is leading the raise alongside international investment company Eurazeo, with participation of existing investors Serena, Cathay Innovation and Blackfin Capital Partners and new entrants the venture capital firms Seaya Ventures and Mundi Ventures. The fresh round of capital comes 18 months after the firm’s $18.5 million Series A funding.
As climate change drives economic losses worldwide, Descartes is disrupting the insurance industry through a growing product offering which covers the full spectrum of natural catastrophes and emerging risk exposures. Descartes’ parametric insurance solutions leverage new data sources combined with AI to drive transformation within an evolving risk landscape, and challenge traditional insurance models.
“The corporate insurance market is undergoing a momentous shift driven by a changing climate, the growing impact of natural catastrophes and a rise in emerging risks”, said Tanguy Touffut, CEO and co-founder of Descartes Underwriting. “Our aim is to be the global leader in delivering truly revolutionary solutions to brokers, corporations and public entities for these evolving exposures. With the support of our partners, we will continue to develop and deploy a new generation of insurance products that are entirely tech-driven, simpler, more transparent and quicker to pay in the event of a loss – adapted for the new risks corporations and governments increasingly face”.
The Series B investment will be used to support Descartes’ ambition to become a category leader in corporate insurance worldwide. The company will use the new financing to scale up its approach to corporate and public entity risk exposures, growing its technology platform, expanding into new lines of business and targeting larger deals, while continuing its global expansion to better serve its brokers and clients.
Founded by a team of leading insurance and reinsurance practitioners, Descartes works with corporate brokers to offer bespoke, cutting-edge and affordable insurance solutions to enable their clients to better manage their exposure to climate-related and emerging risks in all regions across the globe. In less than three years, the company has become the leading corporate InsurTech player worldwide. Through a global network of offices, it offers a full range of parametric products developed by a dedicated team of 50 engineers and data scientists, serving a diverse portfolio of more than 200 corporate clients including many Fortune 500 companies.
Tanguy Touffut added: “We are proud to work with Highland Europe, Eurazeo, Seaya and Mundi Ventures, all of which have incredible track records and an entrepreneurial mindset, making them the perfect match for us to scale with. We are also grateful for the continued support of our existing investors, Blackfin Capital Partners, Serena and Cathay Innovation, each of which has been integral to our incredible success to date.”
Beatriz González, Founder and Managing Partner at Seaya Ventures, commented that “as the first InsurTech investment in Seaya III, we are very pleased to welcome Descartes, the sixth European company to trust us. We are happy to support its exceptional team in the mission of protecting corporations and governments against natural catastrophes.»
Stan Laurent, Partner at Highland Europe added: “Tanguy, Sébastien and Kevin have developed the most innovative and successful set of insurance products we have seen in the increasingly relevant climate risk sector. We are impressed by their team, culture, set of partners and ambition, and look forward to helping them scale as a global next generation corporate insurance business.”
Guillaume d’Audiffret, Managing Director at Eurazeo, further added: “With climate change and many other emerging risks including most recently the pandemic, corporates and public sector companies are increasingly experiencing the need to access comprehensive and transparent insurance that can cover them efficiently against critical external events. Since its inception three years ago, and thanks to its highly experienced team, Descartes has become a clear category leader in the parametric insurance market. We look forward to supporting Tanguy, Sébastien, Kevin and their full team in redefining the corporate insurance market for the years to come.”
Nuevos informes y series de datos: El Capital riesgo Informal en España 2021 / Informe de Impacto Económico y Social del Capital Privado en las operaciones de Middle Market en España. 2018 (ASCRI) / Informe de Impacto Económico y Social de los préstamos otorgados por Enisa
Otros informes destacados: Madurez del Venture Capital en España. (English version)/ Financiación de startups de Energía en España / El tiempo de las desinversiones en Private Equity en España (English version)
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La entrada Descartes raises $120M round lead by Highland Europe, and also backed by Eurazeo, Serena, Cathay, Blackfin, Seaya and Mundi Ventures se publicó primero en Webcapitalriesgo.
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