New collaboration uses satellite data to develop new insurance products

Tokio Marine Holdings and ICEYE, a radar data provider and expert in NatCat solutions, have announced a commercial collaboration to develop new insurance products and services that utilize satellite data.

ICEYE says Tokio Marine (whose Canadian branch has underwriting offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) has made a strategic investment in the company as it looks to develop new products and services to address climate change and natural catastrophes.

“As part of the new alliance between the two companies, ICEYE and Tokio Marine will collaborate on a series of initiatives designed to facilitate the digital transformation of insurance claims capabilities and develop new insurance products and services to address the increasing frequency and severity of natural catastrophes and the growing impact of climate change,” the two companies say in a joint press release.

The partnership will see three key initiatives:

• To develop advanced claims services for wind-related damage using satellite images and auxiliary data to estimate the presence and extent of roof damage in the aftermath of a windstorm event;
• To develop processes that will accelerate insurance claims payments across all companies within the Tokio Marine Group and support the development of parametric insurance products; and
• To develop more effective ways of detecting potential disasters through satellite data and supporting response efforts by monitoring changes on the ground.

Masashi Namatame, Group chief digital officer with Tokio Marine Holdings, says the insurer has been working with ICEYE since 2020, and jointly develop and insurance claims processing solution for floods that streamlines and enables quicker delivery of claims payments.

“By capitalizing on satellite data, analytical capabilities, artificial intelligence and machine learning, we can enhance responsiveness to catastrophic events, support more effective claims management, ensure speedier payment to those affected, and augment disaster detection capabilities,” adds Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE.

ICEYE reports it operates the world’s first SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation focused on the insurance industry. By combining data from its spaceborne sensors with multiple auxiliary information sources, it creates easily ingestible hazard data which can be delivered to the insurance company in near real-time.

The announcement is part of ICEYE’s Series D funding round, which raised a total of $136 million. The company has raised a total of $304 million in financing since 2015.

Feature image by iStock.com/johan63