The conspiracy crowd is going to go nuts with this.
Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
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Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#12How was a startup able to offer an insurance product with only a few tens of millions in VC? Were they partnering with someone? I would love to read more about their business model.
Insurance for startups sounds like a good business model.
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#13I don't think this has a lot to do with good PR. It's a smart acquisition. Weather plays a big role in agriculture in Asian countries.
Why in Asia more than in other parts of the world? Mitigation of weather-related risks and oportunities should apply to any farmer with enough sophistication.
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#14How was a startup able to offer an insurance product with only a few tens of millions in VC? Were they partnering with someone? I would love to read more about their business model.
Most insurance companies have their insurance policies underwritten by a reinsurer:
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#15The conspiracy crowd is going to go nuts with this.
Yes, I can't wait for the next nutcase to talk about Genetically Modified Bio-Weather Weapons :)
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#16It's a good time to be in the weather data and forecasting business. So much is possible now that was unthinkable just 5 years ago.
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#17How was a startup able to offer an insurance product with only a few tens of millions in VC? Were they partnering with someone? I would love to read more about their business model.
Most insurance companies have their insurance policies underwritten by a reinsurer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinsurance
You're right. I looked a little more on their site and found:
The policies are reinsured by Swiss RE Corporate Solutions Ltd which also has an A.M. Best rating of "A+" (Superior).
It looks like Swiss Re has a pretty significant global crop insurance business.
http://www.swissre.com/reinsurance/insurers/agriculture/
edit: I'm still a little confused though. What is the point of developing their own sophisticated risk model when the price of the policy will ultimately depend on Swiss Re's risk model?
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#18It's a smart move in several ways. For one, Monsanto has to grow all the seed it is going to sell, so knowing which areas will most likely have the weather patterns conducive to that particular hybrid will increase their yield. Secondly, knowing what to expect in weather trends means they can decide what to focus on for crop traits, both in research and marketing. The recent drought caused Pioneer's first-to-market d…
I think it is worth mentioning that Monsanto is a general technology company, which includes the seed technology you mention, but they are also involved in research and advancement elsewhere, like in precision farming. Weather forecasting technology ties into a lot of areas of their business.
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#19I don't think this has a lot to do with good PR. It's a smart acquisition. Weather plays a big role in agriculture in Asian countries.
Why in Asia more than in other parts of the world? Mitigation of weather-related risks and oportunities should apply to any farmer with enough sophistication.
Maybe the comment was more about the agricultural economy. Most farmers have been and continue to be small-scale farmers (a few acres?), and since there are a lot more people in Asia, I'd expect a lot more farmers. I'm guessing that climate changes would hit 1000 people each with 2-acre farms in Asia differently than it would the pocketbook of 1 person with a 2000 acre farm in America that grows crops that get partially subsidized by the US govt. The role the govt plays (or doesn't, for example, b/c of excessive corruption), is also a factor.
Re: Monsanto Acquires Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For $930M
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, they're very kind to host many of the Clojure meetups here in SF, and seem to be very sharp. They were working with some impressive amounts of data, and made it look easy. That said, Monsanto....
....is what?
Wikipedia knows all (I can't speak to bias)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto#Legal_actions_and_con...