Spring 21 Capstone 640pm

WorldCover is applying insurtech solutions to climate change—a challenging global problem. Using satellite data, on-ground sensing and innovative risk modeling, the company developed a climate and weather-linked insurance product. Today, WorldCover supports and protects farmers within developing countries, who are faced with some of the worst droughts in the world due to climate change.

Shortcomings of Robo-Advisors The entry of robo-advisors has broken down some of the traditional barriers between the financial services world and average consumers. Because of these online platforms, sound financial planning is now accessible to everyone, not just high-net-worth individuals. Still, many in the industry have doubts about the viability of robos as a one-size-fits-all solution to wealth management. Given the relative nascency of their technological capabilities and minimal human presence, robo-advisors have been criticized for lacking in empathy and sophistication. They are good entry-level tools for people with small accounts and limited investment experience, namely millennials, but are far from sufficient for those who need advanced services like estate planning, complicated tax management, trust fund administration, and retirement planning. Automated services are also ill-equipped to deal with unexpected crises or extraordinary situations. For instance, if a young person's parents passed away and he/she receives an inheritance, going online to a robo-advisor to manage the money is probably not the optimal decision. In fact, a study conducted by Investopedia and the Financial Planning Association found that consumers prefer a combination of human and technological guidance, especially when times are rough. According to the report, 40% of participants said they would not be comfortable using an automated investing platform during extreme market volatility. Furthermore, robo-advisors operate on the assumption that clients have defined goals and a clear understanding of their financial circumstances, to begin with. For many, that is not the case. Answering questions like, "Is your risk tolerance low, moderate, or high?" presupposes the user has a fundamental knowledge of investment concepts and the real-life implications of each option they choose.

WorldCover approached the communications challenge from two directions. First, better understand the customer base. Second, communicate to the customer base with greater frequency. Both approaches increased trust in the product and WorldCover brand, leading to higher retention rates.

WorldCover has uniquely combined technological advances and developed a solution that allows us to support smallholder farmers caught in conditions that are worsening due to climate change," said Christopher Sheehan, WorldCover CEO and co-founder. “With the rise of many insuretech startups around the world, we are excited about this successful round of Series A funding as it enables us to accelerate growth in existing markets while working towards expansion into new regions. This will allow us to fulfill our ultimate vision of making the world more resilient to climate change”.

If you can’t or don’t want to borrow money from a brick-and-mortar bank or a conventional online lender, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is an option worth exploring. P2P lending works differently from the financing you may have received in the past. You are not borrowing from a financial institution but rather from an individual or group of individuals who are willing to loan money to qualified applicants. P2P lending websites connect borrowers directly to investors, as these lenders are called. Each website sets the rates and the terms (sometimes with investor input) and enables the transaction. P2P has only existed since 2005, but the crowd of competing sites is already considerable. While they all operate the same basic way, they vary quite a bit in their eligibility criteria, loan rates, amounts, and tenures, as well as their target clientele. To jump-start your search, we scoured the online P2P marketplace and came up with these top six platforms, depending on your exact financial situation.

Based on its success thus far in Ghana, WorldCover expects that its model could expand to work across the entire developing world, where 500 million smallholder farming households feed 80% of the population. Ultimately, this approach could scale far beyond drought insurance, to provide protection against other risks.

WorldCover CEO and co-founder Christopher Sheehan told Business Ghana: “WorldCover has uniquely combined technological advances and developed a solution that allows us to support smallholder farmers caught in conditions that are worsening due to climate change.