Descartes is a French fintech that puts itself forward to monitor fires in real time and to compensate clients transparently and immediately as soon as a fire occurs and according to the amount of burnt area. It can do this through the use of state-of-the-art satellite imagery and the development of machine learning and computer vision algorithms. Fire is just one example, this fintech offers insurance solutions for all natural disasters that are based on data proceeding to indemnify the client in very few hours.

Founded at the end of 2018 in Paris in the financial district of Defence by veterans of the insurance world and experts in the world of data and models, Descartes Underwriting has, in just over two years, achieved significant results: more than 150 customers worldwide between the corporate sector and also public entities and almost 20 million euros of investment thanks to a seed in early 2019 and an A round in September 2020.

“These investments have allowed us to strengthen our research of insurance models and solutions as well as to be more present all over the world. in fact We have, in fact, recently opened an office in New York and one in Singapore – explains Alessandro Girelli, Data Scientist & Business Developer – we also have an important partnership with Assicurazioni Generali that, thanks to its strong brand, allows us to have open doors ‘around the world. Generali, as well as all the insurers around the world with whom we work, provides us with the insurance capacity: more than 100 million euros in policy limits, and allows us to take out innovative insurance cover for large groups, multinationals, governments and public bodies”.

The Descartes Underwriting team consists of around 30 insurance and climate data and modelling experts, with an average age of less than 30 years and more than 15 different nationalities. Many are based in Paris but others work from other European countries, and from the new offices in New York and Singapore.

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