Reask plans US and model coverage expansion, additional funding raised

Reask, a tech company that provides catastrophe modelling, climate analytics and data using machine learning techniques and artificial intelligence, is set to expand to the United States and will use the now $6.55 million seed funding it has accumulated, as it looks to expand its extreme weather modelling services.

Reask has raised another $4.6 million in funding recently, in a round co-led by Mastry Ventures and Collaborative Fund, with participation from Machdoch Ventures and existing pre-seed investor Tencent, alongside pre-seed investors SV Angel and Hawktail.

Reask continues to have a key focus on tropical cyclone risks, but its ambition is to enable the calculation of the severity and frequency of extreme weather events anywhere on earth.

Using artificial intelligence and multiple sources of climate data, Reask develops proprietary weather modeling algorithms that can learn from climate physics and so offer a dynamic forward-looking representation of atmospheric risk, the company explained.

In particular, Reask’s insights are used by insurance, reinsurance and asset managers, including the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, while its services are also harnessed for development of parametric risk transfer products.

The company believes that users “need more accurate weather catastrophe forecasting but are limited to unreliable and inadequate methods based on static historical statistics.”

The new funding will be used to expand the hazard coverage of Reask’s models and expand its team internationally to better service customers in growth markets, with the United States a key target for the company.

“The ability to accurately forecast and measure the behavior of tropical cyclones has always been extremely challenging, especially given their complex interaction with the climate and propensity to damage land-based observational equipment,” Jamie Rodney, CEO of Reask commented.

“Organizations need a clearer view on how extreme weather is changing, so they can adequately prepare for any impact to their physical assets, infrastructure, business models, and customers. Our goal is to bring this information more quickly and efficiently to people and industries so we can help those who need it most and before there is an urgent need for help,” Rodney further explained.

“Ballooning industry loss rates, most recently underscored by State Farm & Allstate’s complete withdrawal from new policy issuance across home and commercial lines in California, illustrate why new approaches to extreme weather risk management must be adopted,” added Co-Founder and General Partner Sam Landman at Mastry Ventures. “Reask’s team has spent years investing in their technology platform, which has now been validated by many of the world’s most sophisticated leaders in risk analysis. We’re excited to see the continued adoption of their product across the insurance and financial services industries and believe the company is well positioned to become the new standard.”

“Our mission at Collab has always been to support businesses and technology that are pushing the world forward,” Guy Vidra, Partner at Collaborative Fund also said. “Reask’s technology makes it possible to predict the outcomes and risks of extreme weather, allowing insurers to prepare themselves and others for the worst. It provides a semblance of stability in relation to something that lacks all three – natural disasters. They’re helping people push forward, no matter what hits them.”

“I’m excited to continue working with Reask to develop innovative methods for better understanding and quantifying the risks of natural hazards like tropical cyclones [and wildfires],” stated Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA. “Using approaches deeply rooted in physical science are critical in producing reliable estimates that can keep up with a warming climate, so the Reask approach is one that’s designed for today’s challenges.”