The £1.75M Seed Plus funding, led by the Foresight Group, a listed private equity and infrastructure investment manager, will support the next stage of Previsico’s product development, including IoT sensors, team expansion and sales growth, in the UK and beyond.
The move follows Previsico’s increasing traction in the insurance market, including with Zurich and BT, and escalating demand for its market-leading ‘live flood forecasting’ solution, with hyper-accurate flood forecasting and flood warnings down to individual property level, following increasing flood losses, worldwide.
Flooding is currently one of the UK’s and the world's most damaging natural hazards. In an increasingly volatile climate, with intensive urbanisation, global flood losses are expected to escalate from $1 trillion in the 30 years to 2020 to $1.7 trillion annually, by 2050, according to the World Resources Institute. As climate change makes severe weather occurrences more common, there is an increased need for accurate predictions of flooding events worldwide. Underpinned by extensive research and impact, Previsico offers the only solution currently available to forecast and provide hyper-local alerts for surface-water flood events. It is also more accurate than incumbent solutions and can warn customers up to 48 hours prior to a potential flooding event, allowing time to prepare and prevent significant flood damage.
Previsico’s technology was developed by Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dapeng Yu, Professor of River Dynamics at Loughborough University and a leading expert on hydrology. It combines data with proprietary algorithms to create automated alerts, highlighting areas at immediate risk of flooding. This allows insurers to alert customers of imminent flooding and to take immediate preventative action such as the erection of flood defences and the removal of valuables to a safe area. Aviva estimates 1 in 5 properties in the UK are in areas at risk of surface water flooding. The recent flash floods in London resulted in the closure of eight tube stations, a DLR station, numerous roads, and damage to hundreds of homes. Most of the affected areas were not covered by Environment Agency warnings.
Jonathan Jackson, CEO of Previsico, said: “Previsico’s mission is to be the leading provider of cutting-edge flood prediction technology, worldwide. We are thrilled that our significant advances in the insurance market have been recognised by Foresight, the Midlands Engine Investment Fund and Foresight Williams Technology. Previsico is not only building a highly successful commercial business, it’s going to make a significant impact on humanity too.”
Professor Claudia Eberlein, Loughborough University’s Dean of Science and Enterprise lead commented: “I’m delighted that this significant investment will enable Previsico to further develop its innovative platform, allowing it to be used in more cities, and support the creation of new jobs at its headquarters on LUSEP, Loughborough University’s Science and Enterprise Park.”
The investment is jointly funded by the Midlands Engine Investment Fund and Foresight Williams Technology. The investment by Williams is particularly pertinent to its Formula 1 team, after this year’s Belgian Grand Prix was cut short after just two laps due to track flooding.