A clean-energy analytics SaaS startup secures £1.7m in seed funding through Surrey Research Park’s angel investment team
Founded in November 2021, Renew Risk is a spin-in from the University of Surrey providing the world’s first offshore wind farm insurance models. The start-up is also a member of Surrey Research Park’s incubation hub, SETsquared Surrey.
The company has been built using decades of know-how, expertise and experience of the University of Surrey’s Chaired Professor Dr. Subhamoy Bhattacharya, who is an expert in offshore wind and has authored three books on offshore windfarms. The technical know-how forms the basis of the products built by Renew Risk. Dr Bhattacharya is a Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Renew Risk.
Earlier in the year, Renew Risk attended one of the University of Surrey’s Angel investment events, S100 Club which helped kickstart an exciting year for 2023’s investment round. This funding round was led by strategic investor Insurtech Gateway with participation from ClimateTech fund One Planet Capital, the University of Surrey, and super angels Chris Adelsbach and
Rahul Munjal.
As the world transitions towards green energy, the next ten years will see exponential growth in the offshore wind industry – expected to be a $1tn industry by 2040. This growth requires massive institutional investment, yet the associated risks remain largely unmeasurable.
Renew Risk provides robust risk assessment solutions that will allow (re)insurers, insurance brokers and offshore wind farm developers to appropriately assess the risk of these billion-dollar renewable energy assets being constructed in deep sea and in natural disaster-prone regions.
Their first-of-its-kind risk modelling software, driven by deep data science, calculates the frequency and severity of financial losses due to natural disasters. The product allows (re)insurers to accurately understand the risk and confidently provide capacity. By securing insurance for large off-shore wind projects, institutional investors are more inclined to provide the necessary financing to expedite the transition to renewable energy.
The startup already has models live with global (re)insurers leading on supporting transition to green energy. The investment will enable the company to expand its customer base across the United States and Asia and develop next-generation products that cover additional asset classes.
The S100 Club has close ties to Surrey Research Park, as well as start-up business incubation and support network SETsquared Surrey. The pitching process for the regular investor event comprises several stages, culminating in presentations delivered by selected businesses to a forum of investors.
Renew Risk will be utilising the investment for product development, PR and marketing, recruitment and scaling up. Currently, the organisation consists of ten employees, alongside a bank of advisors and consultants. Renew Risk plans to recruit a sales specialist and risk modellers over the next 18 months.
Although the long-term business model centres around three separate products, financing, planning and insurance, the firm will be rolling out its catastrophe risk models first as it has seen a lot of client traction already.
As a SaaS company with early clients on board, Renew Risk expects to generate revenue quickly. The start-up has ambitious growth plans and aims to sign up several new clients by the end of 2024. It will be targeting the US, Taiwan and Japan, which are the key markets for the business, and from there, scale up and develop future products.
Ashima Gupta, CEO and Founder of Renew Risk points out that the product roadmap is going to be defined by client needs. “It’s very important for us to be in tune with what our clients want,” she says. “We are building the insurance product with our clients and will do the same with our future products for financing and planning.”
Ashima expressed gratitude for the support and confidence demonstrated by the investors, stating, “We are thrilled to have secured this significant funding round, and are grateful to our esteemed consortium of investors, the University of Surrey and the S100 Club for their investment in Renew Risk.
“I would also like to thank Dr Will Lovegrove, Director of Innovation Strategy at University of Surrey for his untiring support during the spin-in process and for securing us direct investment from the University. We are excited about the transformative impact we will make in the insurance industry.”
Ashima Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO
E: Ashima.Gupta@renew-risk.com
www.renew-risk.com
Professor Subhamoy Bhattacharya
www.surrey-research-park.com
