Boots on the ground

"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."

– Robert Swan

🔍 When the Index Gets It Right: Parametric Design in Practice

Parametric insurance only works if the index behind the product truly captures what farmers experience on the ground. The gap between what the index measures and what the farmer actually loses is called basis risk. It is the central technical challenge in our field.

In our latest article, we share how we designed and validated a drought index for rice producers in Colombia's Orinoquía region. Working alongside producers, we identified critical windows in the crop cycle and built an index based on satellite soil moisture data. The results hold up against real yield records: when the index signals drought, yields drop. When conditions are normal, they recover.

👉 Read the full article.

🥾 Boots on the Ground: Suyana in Argentina

In March, Suyana attended two key events in Argentina. We were invited by our key investor Innventure, a leading ag-focused VC in Argentina, to the largest annual ag gathering, Expoagro 2026, held in San Nicolás. We joined the "Levantando la Perdiz" panel, a stage dedicated to startups bringing technology to agriculture. Throughout the expo, the team held meetings with cooperatives, input suppliers, banks, and insurers, showing how satellite-powered parametric insurance can bring automatic drought protection to Argentine farmers.

The following week, we headed to Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba, for AgroInnova 2026, an international gathering that brings together leading insurers and reinsurers in the regional agricultural market. We connected with regional insurers exploring parametric products.

Argentina plants 40 million hectares of grain each year. Less than 1% is insured against drought. Suyana already operates in Colombia and Bolivia, and Argentina is the next step. We're actively looking for partners to launch the first parametric drought coverage pilot in Argentine agriculture.

📡 Closing the Resolution Gap in Parametric Flood Insurance

The 2024 floods in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were one of the most severe climate disasters in the country's recent history. They also exposed the limits of current satellite detection: SAR sensors offer global coverage but lack resolution, and optical models fail under cloud cover, exactly when they're needed most.

To tackle this, Suyana built a hybrid model using convolutional neural networks that combines satellite imagery with geospatial context at the parcel level. Instead of treating each location as an isolated pixel, the model incorporates elevation, land use, proximity to waterways, and terrain slope to estimate flooding with greater accuracy. For parametric insurance, this precision matters: the trigger has to reflect what actually happened at the insured location, not a regional average. A product that misses the spatial reality creates basis risk and fails to deliver on its promise. Getting the resolution right is what turns accessible coverage into real protection.

Read the full article by Ahmed Eid, our Lead Data Scientist. 👉 Read more

🤝 Investor Spotlight: Gonzalo Huertas

We're proud to have Gonzalo Huertas as a mentor and investor in Suyana. Gonzalo is a PhD-trained economist focused on fiscal policy and sovereign debt in emerging markets. His research on hyperinflation stabilization and debt sustainability gives him a clear view of how financial systems shape risk across Latin America. He understands what happens when those systems fail vulnerable populations, and what it takes to build ones that don't.

"Climate risk in Latin America is not an abstract problem. It hits farmers and food systems, and eventually the fiscal balance of entire countries. Argentina recently suffered a balance of payments crisis in part due to a once-in-a-lifetime drought. What Suyana is building is exactly what the region needs: affordable protection that actually reaches the people who face the most exposure. I believe this team can make it work at scale." — Gonzalo Huertas, PhD

💡 Events: Innventure Portfolio Gathering and Halcyon LP Summit

Argentina: As a portfolio company of Innventure, Suyana will be in Argentina this week for the annual gathering of its companies. The meeting is taking place in Lobos, Argentina, the agricultural heartland of Argentina. It is a great opportunity to keep the momentum with our local partners after Expoagro and Agroinnova last month.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Suyana was invited by Lloyd's Brazil to participate in the Rio de Janeiro Reinsurance Conference. taking place on May 19th and 20th. Let's connect if you are attending!

Washington, DC: The Annual Halcyon Venture Partners LP Summit is taking place on May 20th in Washington, DC. Halcyon backs companies at the intersection of social impact and climate technology, and Suyana is proud to be part of their portfolio. We will be there to connect with our mentors, investors, and fellow portfolio companies.