Ibisa designs index-based insurance solutions for customers facing climate change or weather-related risks. Co-founded by Maria Mateo in 2019 and based in Luxembourg, the company also maintains a team and operations across three different continents.
Luxinnovation
Ibisa designs and operates index-based insurance solutions for customers facing climate change or weather-related risks. Co-founded by Maria Mateo in 2019 and based in Luxembourg, the company also maintains a team and operations across three different continents.
The Ibisa Network specialises in providing parametric insurance solutions that cover various weather-related risks like drought, excess rainfall or extreme temperatures. This insurance provides a pre-set payout automatically triggered by a specific measurable event, not by assessing individual damage. For example, while a farmer with proof may request compensation after a flood, a parametric insurance solution pays a pre-agreed amount if a defined trigger, like a specific flood level, is met, regardless of that farmer's specific losses. Satellites act as impartial "eyes in the sky" that provide the measurable proof needed for a parametric insurance policy to pay out quickly and transparently when a pre-agreed event, like a drought or flood, occurs.
With a master’s degree in telecommunication engineering, an executive MBA, and over 8 years of experience at Luxembourg’s satellite company SES, Ms Mateo explains that her personal background also inspired the creation of the company. “My family comes from the agricultural field, and we always had an extremely bad experience with insurance,” she recalls. Her satellite know-how and firsthand understanding of these agricultural vulnerabilities became the foundation for the insurtech startup. She complemented this know-how by bringing in co-founders with specific insurance backgrounds. “I was lucky to find them because I knew the importance of having complementary skills,” she asserts. Prior to Ibisa, the Spanish CEO and co-founder had already ventured into the world of entrepreneurship, creating her first company at the age of 16.
To understand the Ibisa Network, it's important to clarify its specific role. "We are not an insurance company," Mateo emphasises. Instead, Ibisa functions as a vital technology and expertise partner within the existing insurance ecosystem. "Our role is really to enable the insurance industry to provide climate insurance." This includes providing the risk modelling tools and dashboards, policy management systems and necessary onboarding applications.
While initially focused on agriculture – reaching farmers often through credit providers or agricultural input suppliers – Ibisa’s expertise has expanded more broadly to other stakeholders confronted by climate risks. For instance, they’ve developed solutions for renewable energy projects (protecting against lost revenue from low sun or wind) and are currently tackling flood risk with the Luxembourg Space Agency. This expanded scope includes vital support for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets.
Until the end of 2021, the company focused on tech development with a small team working part-time on weekends. In 2021, it successfully closed its first fundraising round, which enabled it to hire more staff and go to market. In 2024, it closed a second $3 million funding round for business development and operations, particularly to scale its parametric insurance solutions for weather-related risks in Asia and Africa. Today, it operates in three different continents with different projects in the Philippines, India, New Zealand, Guatemala, and Africa (Ghana, Senegal, and Kenya).
For each country, Ibisa collaborates with established local insurers. "We become their technical expert to deliver climate parametric insurance with satellite data," Mateo clarifies. The local partners provide the regulatory licence and underwriting capacity, while Ibisa delivers the sophisticated technology platform for product development, operations, administration, and policy monitoring. Its core technology and support functions remain centralised in Luxembourg.
Besides her entrepreneurship profile, Ms Mateo is also an Affiliate Partner at True Global Ventures, a global technology equity venture capital firm that invests in serial entrepreneurs in over 20 cities. Wearing her investor hat, she shares some tips on what investors look out for: “Are these the right people to do business with? Do they have the right energy and resilience? Because, in the end, in a company, nothing happens smoothly. You need to know: Is the team capable of doing great things, adapting to wherever the flow takes them?”
For young women aiming to make their mark with technology, Mateo’s core advice centres on leveraging community and seeking knowledge. "Ask for help," she urges. "Fast-tracking learning is very important. The value of a strong network is paramount. Surrounding yourself with really good people, I think, is very underrated. Don't be ashamed of not having all the answers or needing help; I think the more help you can get, the better your position."
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