WorldCover provides climate insurance for smallholder farmers using satellite imagery, on-ground sensors, mobile phones and data analytics to underwrite rainfall risk. Farmers access coverage via a USSD mobile app, select region and crop, and pay with mobile money providers such as M-Pesa and MTN Mobile Money. The service pays scaled benefits (roughly 5x to 15x the premium) when adverse weather events—primarily lack of rain—are confirmed through its data metrics. WorldCover currently operates in Ghana, Uganda and Kenya and has served more than 30,000 farmers across its African operations. With a $6M Series A led by MS&AD Ventures and participation from Y Combinator, Western Technology Investment and EchoVC, the company plans to expand its insurance offerings into additional emerging markets including India, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia (India could launch on an ~18-month timeline). The startup also resells policy risk to global reinsurers such as Swiss Re and Nephila and intends to add more crops, cover additional weather events like tropical storms, and update its platform to offer farming advice.

Total raised

$6M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

May 2019