Weather tracking firm focusing on storm damage
Understory named among most innovative startups
Madison weather network and analytics company Understory thinks it has found a way to save insurers money after storms.
Understory has deployed some 500 weather sensors across the U.S. Those sensors have helped insurers analyze more than 100,000 claims leading to more than $62 million in savings, the company said.
The idea is that better knowledge about the damage can help insurers allocate resources faster and with more precision within stormimpacted areas.
At the end of June, Understory launched its hail assessment product WISE, which stands for Weather Intelligence Storm Estimates. WISE auto-generates assessments after hailstorms for insurers using the data collected by its sensors. The reports show post-storm policyholder behavior, claims submission timing and adjuster experience requirements for assessing the damage.
“Property and casualty carriers need to know, quantifiably, what happened in the immediate aftermath of any weather event,” said Alex Kubicek, CEO and founder of Understory. “Most times, insurance companies don’t know the extent of the damage until policyholders start calling in. Then it can take weeks to months to understand an approximate claim volume. WISE lets you know exactly how an
event is going to unfold immediately after the weather clears with a 95 percent accuracy rate.”
National attention, expansion
The company has received national attention. Most recently, Forbes named Understory one of the 25 most innovative agriculture technology startups of the year.
It also secured a deal with agriculture giant Monsanto to deploy sensors on the company’s fields.
Understory is also expanding nationally. By the end of 2019, the company plans to increase its sensor network from 500 to 5,000. This will cover more than 90 percent of all weather-related catastrophes, Understory said.
Right now in Wisconsin, there are 10 Understory weather stations in the Madison area. By the end of the company’s expansion, the entire state will be covered by WISE.
To grow rapidly, Understory has devised a cost-effective method for manufacturing weather stations. Understory announced the method was awarded a patent this week.
“Scientific-grade weather sensors previously cost around six figures due to components, assembly, installation, service maintenance and the necessary layer of communication to receive data,” Kubicek said.
“In contrast, Understory’s method of manufacturing weather stations utilizes commoditized components that cost an order of magnitude less. With the cost barrier significantly lowered, we are creating resilient sensors that can be deployed anywhere in the world and last up to 10 years in the field without human interaction.”