Financing to accelerate growth into the global renewable energy sector and further protect industry from severe weather and other risks
MADISON, Wis., June 5, 2024 — Understory, the insurance platform protecting climate-vulnerable industries from severe weather risk, announced the close of a significantly oversubscribed Series A funding round, securing a substantial $15 million to drive its expansion into the renewable energy sector. This funding round, co-led by True Ventures and Prelude Ventures, underscores investors’ strong belief in Understory’s vision and expansion potential.
Following the highly successful launch of Understory’s Dealers Open Lot insurance solution, which offers risk management for U.S. auto dealers and has provided protection for dealer inventories across nearly 1,000 locations from Hawaii to Delaware, the company is launching a product offering focused on the renewable energy sector. This product harnesses Understory’s proprietary risk mitigation technology that has already reduced weather damage for its clients by over $65 million and effectively reduced overall claim trends by 60%. Understory’s mutualized insurance approach, together with unparalleled risk selection and sharing of clients’ best practices, has enabled sustainable and profitable portfolio growth.
This strategic move diversifies Understory’s portfolio and addresses the burgeoning demand for robust, scalable insurance solutions in sectors highly vulnerable to climatic impacts.
Puneet Agarwal, partner at True Ventures, commended the company’s growth and trajectory: “The Understory team has brought a new, next-generation level of data intelligence to the insurance market. This new funding round is a significant milestone, positioning Understory to reshape the property insurance industry and renewable energy landscape. We’re thrilled for the team as they continue to see so much promising traction.”
Tim Woodward, managing partner at Prelude Ventures, added: “Aligning with Understory’s venture into renewables couldn’t be more perfect for us. Their tech-driven, data-first approach to insurance is exactly what the renewable sector needs to continue its accelerated growth as we transition to a green energy future. We’re excited to be a part of this journey, catalyzing change in critical industries through creating cost-effective insurance solutions that finally address clients’ longstanding frustrations with legacy players.”
“Expanding from a tech-focused startup to a leading figure in the insurance market exemplifies our ability to scale solutions that tackle real-world problems,” said Alex Kubicek, co-founder and CEO of Understory. “Our latest venture into renewable energy insurance underpins our commitment to rearchitecting insurance structures that support sustainable industry growth while mitigating environmental risks.”
Understory is led by Kubicek and Neil Irwin, co-founder and senior international insurance executive. Under their leadership, the company has evolved from a deep tech startup into a full-stack MGA/MGU at the forefront of the insurance industry. Their combined expertise in deep weather technology and global insurance markets has been pivotal in their mission of restoring and enhancing insurance efficacy and building client resiliency against the growing threat of severe weather and a volatile global risk environment.
For more information, visit: https://understoryweather.com/
About Understory
Understory is a leading provider of insurance solutions built for the era of climate change. The company’s global network of Dot weather stations powers the world’s most sophisticated weather risk model. By combining mutualized, optimized risk structures with precision weather technology and modeling, Understory enables affordable, stable property insurance solutions.
Natural catastrophes driven by the volatility of climate change is increasing rates and restricting insurance coverage. Traditional insurance is no longer fully effective. Insurance and reinsurance companies are pulling out and leaving 76% of global assets unprotected. Transformation is inevitable, and it’s coming to the global property insurance market. Understory cracked the code, and our approach is the way to close this gap.
With a fiercely dedicated and passionate team of both remote and Madison, Wisconsin-headquartered team members, Understory’s culture values unwavering support of colleagues, resilience, adaptability, work-life harmony, time for nurturing our families, and fostering communities that care about the wellbeing of people and their livelihoods like we do. We’re poised to rewrite the story of insurance. To embark on this journey with us, visit www.understoryweather.com.
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SOURCE Understory, Inc.
