Meet the insurtech: Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company

Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company, an insurtech that underwrites and insures carbon credit offset, recently announced a seed round that raised over $7 million in funding led by Aquiline Technology Growth. The insurtech, which translates to “home” in Tupi-Guarani, is paving the way for insurance in the carbon credit market through its data-driven technology and mission for transparency and stability.

Corporations that emit greenhouse gasses have the opportunity to offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits – transferable credits that are linked with an environment-focused project, such as reforestation or woodland protection, that sequesters CO2 from the atmosphere. These credits, issued by carbon crediting programs, permit organizations to release one metric tonne of CO2 or other greenhouse gasses per credit. However, as an industry in its infancy, the voluntary credit market is lacking in regulation and governance. 

Chris Slater, Founder and CEO of Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company

Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company

Chris Slater, founder and CEO of Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company, is a 20 year veteran of insurtech and fintech spaces. Slater, who previously co-founded the U.K. and U.S. insurtech Simply Business, has worked across a number of global organizations and saw the clear need for insurance in the voluntary credit market.  

Slater states, “We believe that at the moment, there’s no adequate insurance solution that exists. You, as the corporate buying those credits, are effectively onboarding all that risk. It’s up to you to do the diligence on the projects, to make sure that you’re investing in projects that stand up under scrutiny of external parties, ensuring they are sequestering the required CO2, and that they meet the commitments you are making as a business.”

The insurtech will be developing insurance and technology products and leveraging data provided by the organization for its project and also plans to form partnerships that will enable the use of satellite imagery and lidar data to identify and assess environmental projects.

The risks associated with carbon credits include project risks or financial risks such as a loss of funding, natural catastrophe risks where a climate event destroys a project, fraud or invalidation of a credit and reputational risks associated with projects or inaccurately declaring greenhouse gas emissions.

“There’s a whole host of risks that you’re taking on board in purchasing those credits, and we want to be able to provide insurance products together that effectively transfer that risk from the corporate, to us –  so that, ultimately, your reputation is protected,” says Slater.

This year, Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company will be announcing new team members, building customer focused solutions backed by the necessary reputable insurance capacity and plans to be live with its first products later this year. 

“I firmly believe that the voluntary market is a critical part in the climate ambitions that I think we all, as a society, have… And I think where insurance can play an important role is almost legitimizing, what is a good credit, what isn’t a good credit, what’s a good project, what’s not good,” Slater explains. “I see this as a public good. I think this is an ability for us to help the market evolve into the next version of itself and establish itself as a really important part of the climate agenda. I’m excited about bringing the products to market and ensuring every carbon credit is insured.”