Windward Raises $16.5M, Led by XL Innovate, to Help Marine Insurers Boost Profits

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Jul 02, 2018, 04:00 ET

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Windward Adapts Market-Leading Intelligence Platform to Marine Insurance Industry

Windward, the pioneering maritime risk analytics startup that's fundamentally changing the marine insurance landscape, today announced it had raised $16.5m in Series C funding. It brings the total raised to date to $38.9m.

The round was led by San Francisco-based insurtech fund, XL Innovate. Existing investors, Horizons Ventures and Aleph, also participated, as did a number of individuals, including Salesforce Chairman & CEO, Marc Benioff. As part of the fundraising, Tom Hutton, XL Innovate Managing Partner and former CEO of RMS, will become a board director. Windward will use the money to strengthen its position within the marine insurance market, expediting the development and rollout of its suite of marine insurance products, hiring top talent, and expanding its London office.

Commenting ahead of the Marine Insurance London conference, where he's a keynote speaker, Windward Co-Founder and CEO, Ami Daniel, said:

"If there's one investor you want to work with in insurtech, it's XL Innovate. We know they only back the most promising, scalable technologies in the space. We're delighted they chose us and look forward to putting their funds and expertise to good use, to offer our unique analytics and prediction tools to marine insurers around the world."

Tom Hutton, Managing Partner at XL Innovate, said:

"We've had the pleasure of working with Ami and Windward for two years, believing a large opportunity existed for them in marine insurance. Today, Windward has established itself as the industry leader in marine risk analytics, earning the trust of governments and law enforcement agencies globally - and now expanding into insurance. We look forward to supporting Windward further, with our new equity investment complementing our existing commitment of time and resources."

Building on its success quantifying marine risk for governments, Windward adapted its technology to create a unique offering for the marine insurance industry. Windward Insurance continuously monitors and analyzes what ships are doing, including: how they navigate; where they operate; when they operate; what they do in rough weather; and how they maneuver in ports. The company's models use these vessel operating patterns and behavioral traits to predict the likelihood of a ship having an accident in the year ahead. Windward's proprietary data and machine learning algorithms are integrated into insurers' technical pricing models, leading to better underwriting decisions and improving profitability.

At the same time, Windward's other main product is on course for a record year. Windward Intelligence, which helps intelligence, law enforcement and security agencies protect their national interests by revealing potential threats, has won a raft of major contracts in 2018. In March, the United Nations Security Council reported that it used Windward Intelligence to discover vessels helping North Korea evade sanctions.

Media Kit: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qcgcpim7p6oigzq/AABpX_3ykkCba8eAGU5ir9FQa?dl=0

Video interview with Windward CEO, Ami Daniel: https://youtu.be/EaXl5bipxD0

About Windward:
Windward helps organizations understand maritime risk and therefore take actions to reduce it. Since its founding in 2010, the company has raised $38.9M from investors including Aleph, Horizons Ventures, former CIA Director David Petraeus, and former BP CEO, Lord Browne of Madingley. The company is headquartered in Tel Aviv, with an office in London. To learn more, visit: http://www.wnwd.com

About XL Innovate

XL Innovate is a venture capital fund focused on investing in companies that address the world's most complex risks with new technologies and products for the insurance industry. XL Innovate provides companies with equity capital, unparalleled experience in building new ventures in this specific space, and access to XL Catlin's global insurance expertise and underwriting. To learn more, visit http://www.xlinnovate.com.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Windward