Kettle Raised $25M to Help the Insurance Industry Protect Against Wildfires

By Juan Fajardo Juan Fajardo has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team
Published on November 21, 2021

Kettle, a San Francisco-based insurtech startup, has raised $25 million in Series A funding to bring machine learning and reinsurance to fight wildfire losses.

The round was led by Acrew Capital, with participation from Homebrew, True Ventures, Anthemis, Valor, DCVC, and LowerCarbon Capital. Kettle has now raised a total of $29.7 million in funding, which will allow it to become a major player in the reinsurance industry. Lauren Kolodny, Partner at Acrew Capital, referred to the firm’s participation by stating:

“When you take a minute to think about it, it becomes very obvious why traditional reinsurers can’t accurately underwrite climate risk — their methodologies look to the past. And our climate is changing in ways that can’t be predicted on the basis of historical data. Kettle is solving a massive, global problem. And we’re so thrilled to deepen our partnership with this incredible team.”

Founded in 2019 by Andrew Engler and Nathaniel Manning, Kettle is looking to rebalance the increasing risks resulting from climate change, including wildfires, hurricanes, storms, and more. The startup makes use of the latest machine learning algorithms to analyze public and private data, predicting which areas are more likely to experience wildfires and other disasters. Manning said in this regard:

“Climate change is here, it’s right there in the words – the climate has changed. Now we need to build the best safety net we can to help people recover from these catastrophes. There are 14 million structures in California, and in 2020 ~11,500 of them burned down, less than .1%. While the risks of wildfire have certainly increased over the past decade, the key is understanding exactly where the risk is. If we can do that, we can bring stability back to the California insurance market.”

As a result of wildfires, the reinsurance industry has experienced a drop of more than 68% in return on equity over the past 15 years. The significant drop is the result of the increase of more than 400% in catastrophes, which has affected the $400 billion industry in unprecedented ways. Kettle’s underwriting of these risks after analyzing the insights provided by its proprietary platform, allowing business and homeowners to better protect their assets with specialized reinsurance.

By Juan Fajardo Juan Fajardo has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team

Juan Fajardo is a News Desk Editor at Grit Daily. He is a software developer, tech and blockchain enthusiast, and writer, areas in which he has contributed to several projects. A jack of all trades, he was born in Bogota, Colombia but currently lives in Argentina after having traveled extensively. Always with a new interest in mind and a passion for entrepreneurship, Juan is a news desk editor at Grit Daily where it covers everything related to the startup world.

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