Google was among investors pumping €30 million into a climate change inspired technology startup that calculates the chances of crops being ruined by weather.
WeatherBill launched Total Weather Insurance in 2010 as a way for US farmers protect themselves against being devastated by weather, which the US Department of Agriculture blamed for 90 per cent of crop losses last year.
“The flip flop of weather from one year to the next is the biggest challenge farmers face,” said Steve Wolters, a farmer who grows corn, soybean and wheat in the US state of Ohio.
“It makes sense to me to take advantage of WeatherBill’s automated weather insurance programmes that pinpoint the weather conditions expected to affect my land and pay me if they happen.”
WeatherBill continuously aggregates weather data and runs large-scale weather simulations on its computers.
The automated system lets farmers or others customize insurance policies to the amount of rain or seasonal temperatures they need for fields to flourish.
Those taking part in the startup’s second round of funding with Google Ventures included Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Index Ventures, and Allen & Company. Total investment in the company was just shy of $60 million.