An Australian flood predication platform has won over $1 million in financial backing, amid claims the technology can significantly outperform other competitors in the market.
Brisbane-based FloodMapp secured $1.3 million from investors in its seed funding round, giving the firm the resources necessary to expand into NSW and launch in the US.
Telematics firm Mercurien was among those to back FloodMapp, with director Daniel Johnson commenting on the technology’s potential to not only save property – but also people’s lives.
“The current technology is also just not cutting it and the sector is not being serviced adequately with businesses having difficulty accessing information regarding flooding,” he added.
Billed as a first-of-its-kind solution, the technology platform aims to address the world’s costliest natural disasters, by offering real-time predictive mapping for impending floods and future hazards.
Purpose-built by flood engineers, the platform analyses rainfall and river height data as well as digital elevation models, then leverages hydrology, hydraulics and machine learning techniques to produce predictive mapping.
The expected flood inundation is then analysed and visualised on a fully live, interactive and high-resolution map, or offered as a live data service via an API.
“[Our] rapid flood models can run instantly, in seconds or milliseconds, rather than 24 hours, which traditional industry standard 2D models often need,” said Juliette Murphy, CEO of FloodMapp. “Each hour of flooding can mean millions of dollars in damage, so speed and accuracy are key.”
Murphy also noted that FloodMapp has already run a proof of concept with one of the largest US insurers as well as an Australian utility provider – although she couldn’t be more specific, Murphy did say both firms ran independent testing.
“They confirmed that our accuracy was comparable to industry standard models, our resolution was much better, and our speed was magnitudes faster than anything else they had ever seen, which is vital for the businesses we partner with,” said Murphy.
According to Murphy, the testing showed that other models have around 70% accuracy with 300m resolution, while FloodMapp operates at 90% accuracy with up to 15cm resolution.
Murphy also pointed to the product’s real-time analysis as particularly important, because it allows insurers to identify affected policyholders before a flood occurs, arrange to mitigate any potential losses where possible, and then improve claims processing after an event.
“This can save insurance companies internal time and resources, and improves customer experience in the moments that matter,” she said. “For example, insurers can easily validate a claim rather than engage assessors to visit every home.”
