About
Floodbase is the AI platform for insuring uncovered flood risk, built by Cloud to Street, a pioneer in satellite-based flood mapping technology. The platform expands the addressable market for insurance brokers by covering flood-related losses that traditional property policies leave behind — including business interruption, crop and land loss, disaster response costs, and public infrastructure damage. At its core, Floodbase uses continuous satellite flood event mapping combined with AI-driven risk modeling to detect and measure flooding across large areas in near real-time. This powers a new category of parametric insurance products that pay out automatically based on the magnitude of flooding — without adjustment processes, physical inspections, or equipment installation. Key capabilities include an automatic quoting engine (launched in partnership with Liberty Mutual), a carrier panel for product structuring and distribution, flexible policy structures that accommodate diverse budgets and use cases, and flood event alerts for anywhere in the U.S. Floodbase serves insurance brokers, coastal businesses, golf courses, municipalities, farms, and government and humanitarian organizations. It is particularly valuable for entities exposed to contingent business interruption or large-area flood losses that fall outside traditional insurance coverage. By combining best-in-class satellite data with industry-leading pricing tools and capacity partners, Floodbase makes comprehensive flood resilience achievable at scale.
Key Features
- Satellite Flood Event Mapping: Continuous, next-generation satellite imagery maps flood events anywhere in the U.S. in near real-time, enabling instant event detection and automatic policy triggers.
- Automatic Parametric Quoting: Brokers can generate instant flood insurance quotes powered by Floodbase's AI risk models and carrier panel, reducing underwriting time from weeks to minutes.
- Parametric Payout Engine: Policies pay out automatically within days of a qualifying flood event based on measured flood magnitude — no adjusters, no inspections, no claims process delays.
- Expanded Risk Coverage: Covers losses traditional policies miss: business interruption, crop and land loss, disaster response costs, infrastructure damage, and lost tax revenue.
- Carrier Panel & Market Infrastructure: Floodbase provides the deep broker and carrier partnerships needed to design, structure, and distribute parametric flood products at scale.
Use Cases
- An insurance broker uses Floodbase's automatic quoting engine to instantly price and place parametric flood policies for commercial clients in flood-prone coastal areas.
- A municipality purchases a parametric flood policy to cover emergency response costs, infrastructure repairs, and lost tax revenue following a major flooding event.
- A large agricultural operation insures its vineyards and farmland against flood-driven crop and land loss using a Floodbase-enabled parametric product.
- A humanitarian organization integrates Floodbase flood event mapping into its disaster response protocols to rapidly mobilize resources when flooding is detected.
- An insurance carrier uses Floodbase's satellite data and risk models to underwrite large-area flood portfolios across multiple geographies with confidence.
Pros
- Covers Previously Uninsurable Risks: Enables coverage for contingent business interruption, crop loss, and public infrastructure — categories that standard property policies exclude entirely.
- Rapid, Automatic Payouts: Parametric triggers mean claims are settled in days, not months, giving policyholders immediate liquidity to respond to disasters.
- End-to-End Platform: From satellite data and risk modeling to quoting, policy structuring, and carrier placement — Floodbase handles the full insurance value chain.
- Real-Time Flood Intelligence: Continuous U.S. flood event monitoring with instant alerts gives brokers and clients timely, actionable data during emergencies.
Cons
- Enterprise-Only Access: Floodbase targets brokers, carriers, and large organizations — it is not designed for individual property owners seeking direct consumer coverage.
- U.S.-Centric Coverage: Flood event alerts and automatic quoting are currently focused on the U.S. market, with international capabilities still expanding.
- Parametric Model Limitations: Payouts are based on measured flood magnitude over large areas, not individual asset losses — policies may not perfectly correlate with a specific client's actual damages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is parametric flood insurance?
Parametric flood insurance pays out a pre-agreed amount based on the measured magnitude of flooding over a defined area — not on individual loss assessment. Policies trigger automatically when flood thresholds are met, enabling payouts within days.
How does Floodbase detect flood events?
Floodbase uses continuous satellite imagery combined with AI-powered flood mapping algorithms to detect, measure, and map flooding in near real-time across the United States.
Who can use Floodbase?
Floodbase is designed for insurance brokers, carriers, municipalities, coastal businesses, golf courses, farms, and government or humanitarian organizations that need flood risk data and parametric insurance capacity.
What types of losses can Floodbase-enabled policies cover?
Floodbase enables coverage for business interruption, crop and land loss, disaster response costs, infrastructure and utility damage, emergency personnel costs, temporary housing, lost tax revenue, and more — losses typically excluded from standard property policies.
How fast are payouts after a flood event?
Because Floodbase uses automated parametric triggers based on satellite-measured flood data, policyholders typically receive payouts within days of a qualifying event — with no adjustment process or equipment to install.
