American climate-focused reinsurance startup Kettle has raised $25m in a Series A funding round led by Acrew Capital.

The round saw participation from Homebrew, True Ventures, Anthemis, Valor, DCVC, and LowerCarbon Capital.

Kettle, which is structured as a reinsurance managing general agent, uses deep learning technology to offer coverages against risks associated with climate change.

Its first offering is aimed at protecting customers in California from wildfires.

It leverages data from public and private sources such as NOAA weather data and NASA’s MODIS and LIDAR satellites.

Kettle claims that its neural networks can run ‘over 140 million model parameters to calculate probabilities of fire damage at the half square mile resolution across the state.’

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Acrew Capital partner Lauren Kolodny said: “When you take a minute to think about it, it becomes very obvious why traditional reinsurers can’t accurately underwrite climate risk — their methodologies look to the past.

“And our climate is changing in ways that can’t be predicted on the basis of historical data. Kettle is solving a massive, global problem. And we’re so thrilled to deepen our partnership with this incredible team.”

Kettle claims that its neural networks can run ‘over 140 million model parameters to calculate probabilities of fire damage at the half square mile resolution across the state.’

Founded by Andrew Engler and Nathaniel Manning, the insurtech is also working to set up its risk-bearing entity.

Manning said: “There are 14 million structures in California, and in 2020 ~11,500 of them burned down, less than .1%. While the risks of wildfire have certainly increased over the past decade, the key is understanding exactly where the risk is. If we can do that, we can bring stability back to the California insurance market.”