Hillridge raises $2.3m for parametric weather insurance expansion

Hillridge Technology Pty Ltd, an Australian software technology company that aims to help users address the climate protection gap through parametric insurance, has raised a $2.3 million seed round and now seeks to expand further into Asia Pacific.

Using parametric triggers, based on weather indices, Hillridge has been enabling protection buyers to access insurance capacity with the help of a technology platform it has created.

The company entered into a partnership with Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Victor Insurance Australia, a subsidiary of Marsh, back in 2021, helping it to expand its business operations with the support of capital and distribution.

Hillridge has now raised a seed round of A$2.3 million led by investor Artesian Venture Partners, through the GrainInnovate fund, and InterValley Ventures, with which it aims to expand access to affordable parametric weather insurance for agriculture and other climate-exposed industries.

The newly raised funds are set to be used to extend Hillridge’s footprint in Australia and New Zealand, and expand its parametric weather insurance platform to southeast Asia.

Hillridge uses weather data from satellites, along with big data analytics, distributed ledger technologies and smartphone applications as it seeks to overcome traditional insurance’s efficiency and transparency gaps.

The Hillridge platform can price a parametric insurance contract in seconds, and triggers automatic payouts if adverse weather occurs.

Being automated, parametric insurance policies can be delivered at scale, more efficiently and cheaply than traditional insurance, while payouts are typically made within days.

“The climate protection gap has left hundreds of millions of people and businesses uninsured and exposed to the financial fall-out of extreme weather,” explained Hillridge CEO, Dale Schilling. “These are vulnerable people who need financial protection, yet are unable to access the weather derivatives and insurance that large corporations take for granted.”

“There will be an increasing need for climate resilience tools like Hillridge’s data- driven technology. We see applications in many industries like agriculture, construction, energy, and tourism,” Simon Wright, Managing Partner at InterValley Ventures commented.

“We have backed Hillridge since their first round through several funds, including GrainInnovate,” Artesian Managing Director, Shane Masters added. “Their technology will help protect the future of profitability and sustainability of grain growers and other agriculture players in the face of a changing climate”.