The Climate Corporation acquired by Monsanto for $1.1B

When we first met David and Siraj, the founders of The Climate Corporation (or Weatherbill, as the company was called back in 2007), we were immediately struck by their vision, courage, foresight and ambition.

The team had set themselves a huge goal: the use of technology to take on the global insurance industry. Long before “big data” became a ubiquitous buzzword, they had seen the potential for data to impact the many millions of people around the world whose livelihoods are affected by the weather. In many ways, the scale of their global, disruptive ambition felt a lot like our ambition when we started out with Skype. Although Atomico now focuses on hyper-growth, later stage companies, back then we felt an instant connection and decided to be an early investor.

Back then, the team hadn’t yet found all the answers. Their initial focus was insurance for businesses that were dependent on weather conditions, from outdoor event organisers to ice-cream sellers and skiing companies. But over time, it became more and more obvious that the biggest opportunity — and another huge global market to disrupt — was agriculture. Weatherbill became The Climate Corporation, and the rest is history. Great entrepreneurs like David and Siraj always find the way as long as their vision is clear.

It’s not every day that you see headlines in the technology press about agriculture or insurance. We love companies, like the Climate Corporation, who are going after large industries ripe for disruption, which in many cases are very unsexy. Monsanto has acquired a fantastic team with excellent technology, and we’re excited to see how they will continue their mission together — and look forward to many more headlines from them in the coming years.