Join the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge

RISE is a non-profit, economic development organization that accelerates innovation and business growth around solutions to the most intractable problems facing coastal communities. Through the Challenges, more than 300 entrepreneurs and companies from around the world competed to participate in RISE’s comprehensive program and win a funded pilot project that uses the coast of Virginia as a living laboratory to test their climate engineering solutions and to refine. RISE acts as a “one-stop shop” for innovative solutions by identifying pilot sites, coordinating installation, developing an evaluation plan and facilitating business development. To close the gap between flood risk and protection, RISE Resilience launches the Flood insurance of the future challenge.

Does your solution help close the flood protection gaps?

As current insurance strategies struggle to accurately identify, minimize and cover the risk for properties that are increasingly prone to flooding, RISE seeks solutions that have the potential to reduce flood insurance premiums and payouts by 50%.

To achieve this, RISE Resilience has identified multiple thematic areas as suggestions for businesses, including new sources of capital and approaches to insurance, linking risk mitigation solutions to lower the cost of risk transfer, and improving data accuracy and granularity and processing capabilities.

Deploy your solution to real-world pilot test sites

All winning solutions must be implemented in the Hampton Roads Region of Virginia. This region offers a unique testing ground for the development and demonstration of solutions for the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge since:

• It is the site of many ongoing and planned resilience projects.
• The regional cities are proactive in hosting and assessing new resilience technologies and approaches.
• RISE has extensive experience in developing and executing resilience challenges in this region.

Discover the benefits of participating in the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge

Since 2018, RISE has committed more than $6 million to more than 35 companies developing new, scalable products and services that help coastal communities adapt to the impacts of climate change. RISE offers select companies technical, government and business mentors, matchmaking for investors, a customized accelerator curriculum and ongoing support to take their business to the next level while meeting the resilience needs of communities.

If selected, RISE will support your business in the following ways:

• Access to the Resilience Innovation Fund (non-equity, non-dilutive)
• Access to the Resilience Innovation Accelerator
• Access to real-world datasets, testbeds & pilot sites
• Manufacturing and testing areas
• Co-working office spaces
• Regulatory and Licensing Support
• Become part of an established resilience community
• PR and media visibility
• Strategic collaborations with experts and stakeholders

In addition, RISE offers variable financing prices to both individual companies (up to US$300K) and teams of companies (up to US$750K) developing integrated solutions. Call your partners today!

What kind of solutions is RISE looking for?

Apply for the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge if you are working on solutions that:

• Offer new capital sources and approaches flood insurance.
• Integrate with resilient infrastructure projects underway or planned in the Hampton Roads region, resulting in a reduction in risk and insurance costs. This includes assessing current resilience projects for their impact on insurance, as well as proposing or guiding future projects.
• Build on past or present flood insurance program approaches – for example, community-based or parametricto demonstrate effectiveness across the city.
• Some insurance approaches require metrics to trigger a payout. There is a need for accurate and reliable measurement data and processes to accurately and reliably characterize the event that triggers the payout.
• Municipalities help with lowering flood insurance premiums on a community-wide basis (e.g. through a Community Rating System).
• Develop data, analysis or modeling to support and improve insurance premium and payout reduction efforts. Some examples are:
  • Property information per lot (e.g. first floor height, construction, flood restrictions, etc.)
  • Critical infrastructure and other parameter mapping and cataloging to guide and improve insurance cost calculation.
• Products and processes to reduce fraud-related costs for insurance companies. This may include improved processes to detect fraud, prevent future fraud, and handle fraudulent claims and practices more efficiently.
• Designing and planning for communities in Hampton Roads to setting up Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ). These zones have been envisioned as a federal structure that directs the public sector and boosts private sector funding for resilience projects for communities most in need and most at risk from major natural disasters. CDRZ communities would be given a menu of funding and funding options to pay for resilience projects to better protect them from significant risks of natural disasters.

This challenge seeks solutions that can be applied to specific planned efforts in Hampton Roads communities, e.g., the “Gent to Harbor Park Flood Protection Program”, planned with the USACE in the city of Norfolk, and also focuses on those activities that are needed to meet the Challenge goals.

Entries will be considered in areas other than those described above if the Challenge objective can be demonstrably achieved.

RISE focuses on supporting companies that help tackle climate change

RISE has initiated more than 30 new pilot projects to solve the climate challenges facing coastal communities today. Examples are:

• The world’s first integration of flood modeling technology with Waze provides drivers with real-time alerts to help them navigate flooded roads.
• The first in the country Home Raising Academy pilot training and certification of personnel in the housing industry.
• Mobile production units that produce affordable coastal defense structures to reduce flooding faster and more safely.
• Rainwater monitoring software and sensors that provide real-time analytics and alerts to prevent flooding, reduce costs, prioritize renovations and plan future infrastructure projects.

Ready to scale your flood risk management solution? Click here to apply for the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance for the Future Challenge!

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