N.O.A.H. is an AI-processed satellite data for crop insurance. They seek to go beyond traditional offerings, leveraging advanced technology to personalize policies and simplify claims processing. Michael Fiedel sat with Co-Founder, Mikhail Aleksandrov, to learn more about how N.O.A.H. is impacting the industry.
What is N.O.A.H.’s client focus?
We service the crop insurance agents in the agro-states. Specifically, the ones who deal with open-field crops.
What does your product do?
We deliver the field-level yield predictions with high accuracy (up to 97 percent for corn). Based on that, we provide relevant advice on the optimal MPCI (Multi-Peril Crop Insurance) level coverage.
How much capital have you raised?
We’re bootstrapped, so we haven't raised anything yet. Right now we have commitments for 900K and looking for another 600K to close the round.
Was the company born from within or outside the industry?
We’re complete strangers to insurance, so we use our advisors wherever we can.
What growth metrics have you accomplished over the last 12 months?
Our main goal is to make the POC (proof of concept) and test our tech in the field in the US. We have successfully done this thanks to Ethan – a farmer in Illinois, who allowed us to use his field data. Right now we’re negotiating our first cooperation agreement with a crop insurance agency in Ohio.
Within your domain, what is the current challenge that the industry is facing?
Having spoken with many people in and around the crop insurance industry, I feel there’s a gap between the C-level and field workers. When you talk to someone in headquarters, the people are assured they have all of the tech on board and are fully equipped. When you go down to the level of crop adjusters and insurance agents, you still find many manual operations. But, don’t trust my words, check the number of views on YouTube on the AgriSompo digital platform tutorial.
How does N.O.A.H. take a unique approach to providing value?
We’ve discovered that there’s an annual debate between the farmer and agent on the level of MPCI coverage. For example, the price changes significantly when you opt for 75 percent instead of 65 percent. The time is crucial as coverage choice has to be made within some 2-3 weeks. We focus on making this decision data-driven and leaving less space for the arguments.
What inspired the team to start this company?
After a career in consultancy, I was thinking of forming a startup and needed to choose the field. I asked myself, ‘What would I love to do even if I didn’t get paid?" Surprisingly, the answer came quite quickly. I have dreamed of space since my 20s, so I decided to focus on this sector. I dove deep into conferences and meetups here in Israel and took a short educational course. Soon I discovered that despite the success of Musk, it’s still way too early to talk about going to Mars.
However, I’ve understood two things: One, there’s a ton of data coming down to Earth from satellites and very few applications for it. Secondly, I needed a CTO for the startup. That’s how I met Sergey; he’s an ex-Sun software engineer, and he co-founded and successfully exited an AdTech startup. In fact, he was the one who proposed to look at the field of insurance. So, I wanted to use space tech and data, while he wanted to apply modeling to solve insurance problems. We thought that crop insurance is a great niche.
Can you share any goal(s) for the next 12-months?
We have lots of plans. Right now, it’s the very beginning. We’re making our first sales in the US, delivering our device to crop insurance agents. We’ve also started to discuss a potential partnership with a major – licensed in 48 states – MGA. If this proves to be successful, then we need to be prepared for fast growth which would require funding. Raising capital is actually a separate full-time job. We expect to be quite busy for the next 12 months.
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