Descartes Underwriting has announced a strategic investment from Battery Ventures, a global investment firm focused on technology.
The deal, completed at a premium to Descartes’ previous series B valuation, introduces Battery to the company’s shareholder base while existing investors maintain a large majority stake.
As part of the agreement, Marcus Ryu (pictured above, left), partner at Battery Ventures and former CEO and co-founder of Guidewire Software, will take on a board observer role at Descartes. Guidewire, a provider of cloud-based core systems and analytics for the property and casualty insurance industry, is publicly listed with a market capitalisation of approximately US$20 billion.
Descartes CEO and co-founder Tanguy Touffut (pictured above, right) said the investment supports the company’s continued global expansion and strengthens its ability to address climate-related risks.
“Over the past six years, Descartes has established itself as the leading parametric insurance business for climate-related risks, remaining true to our scientific approach to risk transfer. As we scale globally to address the widening protection gap around natural disasters, we’re thrilled to welcome Marcus - one of the world’s most accomplished Insurtech entrepreneurs - whose experience and vision will be invaluable as we execute our ambitious roadmap,” said Touffut.
He added that Battery’s involvement signals support for the company’s direction and underlines the importance of the North American market, which is currently its largest.
Ryu said his experience in the global property and casualty sector has shaped his interest in technology-driven solutions to underinsurance.
“Over twenty years of serving the global P&C insurance industry informs my keen interest in applying technology to address the enormous underinsurance gap. Parametric insurance is one of - if not the - most promising approaches to transfer risk efficiently, and like many industry participants I believe it will continue to grow in importance and adoption,” said Ryu. “The team at Descartes Underwriting is uniquely credentialed in this domain, and I am very impressed with the market and thought leadership position they have built with brokers, capacity partners and insureds in a short period.”
Descartes operates in more than 60 countries, with 19 offices across four continents and a workforce of 230. In 2024, the company reported over US$200 million in gross written premium.
