The Climate Corporation

The Climate Corporation
Industry Financial Services
Fate acquired by Monsanto (2013)
Founded 2006
Headquarters San Francisco, CA, USA
Key people
  • David Friedberg: CEO & Founder
  • Mike Stern: COO
  • Kevin Vosen: Chief Legal Officer
  • Brian Branca: CFO
  • David Fischhoff : Chief Scientist
  • Colleen McCreary: Chief People Officer
  • Alex Kleeman : Mathematical Climatologist
Website climate.com

The Climate Corporation is a San Francisco-based company that examines weather data to provide insurance to farmers who can lock in profits even in the case of drought, heavy rains or other adverse weather conditions.[1]

History

The company was founded as Weatherbill in 2006 by two former Google employees, David Friedberg and Siraj Khaliq.

On October 11, 2011, the company changed its name to The Climate Corporation and announced that former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan had joined its Board of Directors.[2]

The company began as a startup focused on helping people and businesses manage and adapt to climate change, by providing weather insurance to ski resorts, large event venues, and farmers. In 2010 it decided to focus exclusively on agriculture, and launched the Total Weather Insurance Product in fall 2010 for corn and soybeans.[3][4]

The company changed its name from WeatherBill to The Climate Corporation in October 2011.[5]

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency authorized the Climate Corporation to administer federal crop insurance policies for the 2014 crop year.[6]

In October, 2013 Monsanto announced that it was acquiring the company for approximately $1.1 billion.[7]

In November 2013 the company launched Climate Basic and Climate Pro, a set of advisory tools for farmers utilizing data science to help farmers make optimal decisions.[8]

In February 2014 the company announced it merged with Monsanto’s Integrated Farming System and Precision Planting divisions.[9] In February 2014 the company also acquired Solum, a soil-testing company based in Ames, Iowa.[10]

Investors and underwriters

The Climate Corporation has raised nearly $110 million to date. On February 28, 2011, The Climate Corporation announced a $42 million Series B funding with new investors Khosla Ventures and Google Ventures joining New Enterprise Associates, Index Ventures, Allen & Company, First Round Capital, Atomico, and Code Advisors in the financing round. The capital was reportedly used to fund the company’s product and sales expansion in the United States and internationally.[11] An additional $50 million of Series C funding was announced on the company's web site on June 14, 2012.[12]

Products

The Climate Corporation combines big data,[13] climatology and agronomy to protect the $3 trillion global agriculture industry from increasingly extreme weather with fully automated weather insurance products.[14]

The company’s Total Weather Insurance (TWI) product addresses farmers' exposure to financial loss even when they fully utilize federal crop insurance. TWI protects farmers against weather events that cause production shortfalls, before multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) kicks in. Unlike MPCI, which requires verification and inspection prior to payment for damages, The Climate Corporation automatically sends payment when specified weather conditions occur, as measured by independent sources such as the National Weather Service.[15]

All of the company's insurance products are approved in all 50 U.S. states and was awarded an "A" rating by A.M. Best.[16]

Technology

The Climate Corporation’s platform ingests weather measurements from 2.5 million locations and forecasts from major climate models on a daily basis, and processes that data along with 150 billion soil observations to generate 10 trillion weather simulation data points used in the company's weather insurance pricing and risk analysis systems. The company manages over 50 terabytes of live data at any given time.[17]

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Cook (2012-01-10). "The Climate Corp. picks Seattle for branch office, looks to cultivate talent to crunch weather data". Geek Wire”. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  2. ↑ Hardy, Quentin (2011-10-11). "Big Data in the Dirt (and the Cloud)". New York Times Blog “Bits”. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  3. ↑ Deleon, Nicholas (2007-10-17). "Weather Derivatives Provider WeatherBill Takes $12.5 Million More". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  4. ↑ Deleon, Staff (2010-11-16). "Full-season weather insurance for agriculture launches". Western Farm Press. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  5. ↑ McMahon, Karen (2011-10-12). "WeatherBill changes name to The Climate Corporation". Farm Industry News. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  6. ↑ Staff (2013-06-28). "The Climate Corporation Approved to Provide Federal Crop Insurance for the 2014 Crop Year". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  7. ↑ Tsotsis, Alexia (October 2, 2013). "Monsanto Buys Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For Around $1.1". TechCrunch (United States).
  8. ↑ Staff (2013-11-11). "The Climate Corp. Launches Climate Basic, Climate Pro For 2014". PrecisionAg.com. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  9. ↑ The Climate Corporation (2014-01-21). "The Climate Corporation Begins Unified Offering For Growers". The Climate Corporation. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  10. ↑ The Climate Corporation (2014-02-20). "The Climate Corporation Announces Acquisition of Soil Analysis Business Line of Solum, Inc". Monsanto. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  11. ↑ Gage, Deborah (2011-02-28). "Google Ventures, Khosla Make Rain For WeatherBill". Wall Street Journal Blog “Venture Capital Dispatch”. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  12. ↑ "The Climate Corporation Raises $50 Million in Financing Round Led by Founders Fund". 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  13. ↑ Hardy, Quentin (2011-10-11). "Big Data in the Dirt (and the Cloud)". New York Times Blog “Bits”. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  14. ↑ Insuring for Extreme Weather
  15. ↑ "WeatherBill Changes Company Name to The Climate Corporation; Appoints Former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan to Board of Directors". Corn&SoybeanDigest. 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  16. ↑ Financial Strength
  17. ↑ "WeatherBill Changes Company Name to The Climate Corporation; Appoints Former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan to Board of Directors". Corn&SoybeanDigest. 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2011-12-15.

External links