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Descartes Underwriting (Descartes Underwriting SAS) is a multinational underwriting company which provides parametric insurance products that insure against natural perils including floods, droughts, supply chain disruptions, renewables yield, construction interruptions, and other climate-related risks.

Headquartered in Paris, Descartes operates across six continents and has issued insurance policies covering more than 250 corporate clients. Descartes is structured as an managing general agent that accepts risk on behalf of licensed insurance and reinsurance companies and Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) funds. Descartes collaborates with insurance brokers around the world to protect corporate and public sector clients against natural catastrophes, weather, and emerging risk exposures such as wildfires.

History
Descartes Underwriting was founded in 2018 by Tanguy Touffut (the founding CEO of AXA Global Parametrics); Sébastien Piguet; and Kevin Dedieu in response to multiple government calls for new sources of protection for businesses against the impacts of climate change. After raising $18.5 million in a Series A fundraising, Descartes opened a New York office in 2020, further offices in Singapore, Sydney, and London in 2021, and Madrid, Frankfurt, and Hong Kong in 2022. In 2022 Descartes raised $120 million thorugh a Series B financing.

Descartes Insurance
Related company Descartes Insurance was launched on 13 December, 2022 as a risk-carrying insurer licensed to underwrite risk by the French supervisory authority Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), and can therefore issue policies directly to insurance buyers anywhere in the European Economic Area (EEA). Elsewhere Descartes Underwriting underwrites on behalf of Generali as a managing general agent.

Leadership

 * Tanguy Touffut - Co-founder & CEO
 * Sébastien Piguet - Co-founder & Head of Underwriting
 * Kevin Dedieu - Co-founder & Head of R&D
 * Louis Bollaert - Chief Revenue Analyst
 * Daniel Vetter - Head of North America
 * Violaine Raybaud - Chief Operations Officer
 * Edern Le Roux - Head of ILS and Cat Modeling
 * Meg Chaperon - Head of Marketing and Communications

Investors

 * BlackFin Capital Partners
 * Serena
 * Cathay Innovation
 * Eurazeo
 * Mundi Ventures
 * Highland Capital
 * Seaya

Partners

 * European Space Agency (ESA)
 * Météo-France
 * National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
 * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
 * African Risk Capacity (ARC Group)
 * Reask
 * Global Earthquake Model (GEM)
 * ICEYE