Descartes Underwriting, an insurtech company specializing in corporate insurance solutions to address climate and emerging risks, has announced a $120 million Series B funding round.
Growth equity firm Highland Europe led the raise alongside international investment company Eurazeo, with participation from existing investors Serena, Cathay Innovation and Blackfin Capital Partners and new entrants Seaya Ventures and Mundi Ventures.
The fresh round of capital comes 18 months after the firm’s $18.5 million Series A funding.
Descartes plans to use this latest investment to scale up its approach to corporate and public entity risk exposures, while growing its technology platform and expanding into new lines of business and targeting larger deals.
“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,” he explained.
“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”.
“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,” added Stan Laurent, Partner at Highland Europe.
“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 also commented: “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.”
