Metabiota provides risk analytics on epidemics

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Epidemic risk is a major threat. In the last decade, there have been over 400 high-priority human disease outbreaks which have impacted the stability of economies and corporations. The Zika virus alone may end up costing Latin America and the Caribbean up to $18bn, and the South Korean MERS outbreak in 2015 caused a 40% drop in tourism, leading to an estimated $900m drop in revenue.

Metabiota has created a comprehensive and objective methodology for quantifying the potential impact of epidemic risk. The company’s methodology comprises both data experts and on-the-ground specialists. It provides underwriters with tools to analyse and quantify the financial impact of epidemics for use in their underwriting processes. Separately, it works with industry (e.g. sports clubs) to understand the impact of epidemics on their businesses.

The company’s models incorporate biological, socioeconomic, political and environmental data, and are continuously updated for accuracy. The team has built the largest infectious disease catalogue of its kind, including a 1 million year stochastic event database created by over 20 million simulations.

Metabiota’s analysis allows emerging disease threats around the world to be managed with near real-time surveillance data. Its Pathogen Sentiment Index ranks pathogens by their likelihood of causing public fear leading to social and economic disruption. The company uses this analysis to track clients’ exposure to emerging disease threats and quantify the resulting impact. Its tools are able
to visualize the spread and containment of events at the global, country and sub-national levels.

“We see a big potential in using the Sentiment Index as a trigger concept as it makes people’s anxiety measurable in terms of economic impacts.”
Gunther Kraut, Head of Epidemic Risk Solutions, Munich Re

Plans for 2019

Metabiota plans to continue offering its portfolio of services on epidemic risk to its commercial and government customers, including analytics, consulting, training and peer-reviewed science. It will evolve its data insights, indices and applications to provide clients with greater information about how infectious diseases affect populations and economies.

Who should speak to this company?

Metabiota is keen to hear from leaders in the insurance industry and corporate environments.

OXBOW PARTNERS | 51

In our 2018 report on the impact of InsurTech on the Lloyd’s Market, we suggested slightly fippantly that underwriters should go for lunch with data providers as much as they do with brokers. Metabiota is a good example of why this is important.The data that could have a material impact on the insurance industry is not necessarily a pure InsurTech. Instead, specialist data providers like Metabiota (or, indeed, Impact 25 Member Pharm3r) are specialist providers who have insurance applications.

It will sometimes take a visionary insurance practitioner to identify the ‘read across’ from these businesses. One approach to ensuring new data sources are found is used by Munich Re, which has a ‘data hunting’ team focused on identifying new data sources around the world. The Oxbow Partners view Company summary-

COMPANY PROFILE | METABIOTA

Year founded: 2008
Revenue band: £10m+
Total investment: £36m
Latest round: £1.5m (November 2018)
Main investors: Google Ventures, Pilot
Growth Equity
Offices: San Francisco (HQ), Canada,
Cameroon, DRC
Live in: US, Canada, Cameroon, Chad,
DRC, Guinea, Iraq, Laos, Philippines,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ukraine
FTEs: 115
Key insurance clients/partners:
Marsh, Munich Re
Key execs: Bill Rossi, CEO: Formerly COO at Bidgely, Enphase Energy, Google, Cisco. Dr. Nathan Wolfe, Founder: Scientist and Time 100 Most Influential People. Nita Madhav, VP of Data Science: Formerly at AIR Worldwide (Principle Scientist)

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