Tokio Marine invests in satellite imagery specialist ICEYE and enters collaboration with NatCat
Tokio Marine invests in satellite imagery specialist ICEYE and enters collaboration with NatCat
ICEYE, the Helsinki-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data provider and natural disaster solutions specialist, announced that Tokio Marine Holdings has made a strategic investment in the company as it seeks to develop new insurance products and services that use satellite data.

The announcement is part of ICEYE’s Series D funding round, which was led by Seraphim Space and raised a total of $136 million.

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 disasters and the growing impact of climate change.

Both companies will focus on three key initiatives:

  • Develop advanced insurance claim services for wind-related damage, using satellite imagery and ancillary data to estimate the presence and extent of roof damage following a windstorm.
  • Develop processes that will expedite the payment of insurance claims across all Tokio Marine Group companies and support the development of parametric insurance products.
  • Develop more effective ways to detect potential disasters through satellite data and support response efforts by monitoring changes on the ground.

“We are pleased to announce that Tokio Marine has entered into a strategic collaboration with ICEYE by participating in their Series D funding round,” commented Masashi Namatame, Group Chief Digital Officer, Tokio Marine Holdings.

“We have been working with ICEYE since 2020 and have jointly developed a flood insurance claims processing solution that streamlines and enables faster delivery of claim payments. This collaboration represents both ICEYE’s strong commitment and Tokio Marine to take positive measures and initiatives against additional risks,” Namatame added.

“By combining ICEYE’s vertically integrated satellite solutions and Tokio Marine’s historical data, we firmly believe that we can develop multiple solutions to address the risks of severe natural disasters and support our customers and society around the world by when needed,” he said.

“To date, our collaboration with Tokio Marine has been integral to the progress we have made in our insurance-focused solutions,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE.

“By capitalizing on satellite data, analytics capabilities, artificial intelligence and machine learning, we can improve responsiveness to catastrophic events, support more efficient claims management, ensure faster payment to those affected and increase disaster detection capabilities,” Modrzewski continued.

ICEYE operates the world’s first constellation of SAR satellites focused on the insurance industry. By combining data from its space sensors with multiple ancillary information sources, ICEYE said it creates easily ingestible hazard data that can be transmitted to the insurance company in near real time.

Source: The AU Times

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