# Yokahu Parametric Insurance Platform

> Critical Insights: Yokahu operates as an exchange/marketplace and transaction infrastructure layer for commercial natural catastrophe risk, distinct from a single-appetite MGA or referral workflow. It digitizes the entire policy lifecycle from quote to automated payout.

## At a Glance

  * **Founders**: Tim McCosh (CEO, former Lloyd's broker) & Farid Tejani (CTO/COO, fintech entrepreneur).
  * **Core Product**: Automated parametric climate insurance policies (Hurricane, Wildfire, Flood, Mortgage Resilience).
  * **Target Segment**: SME commercial natural catastrophe risk ($25k–$45k average premiums) distributed via retail brokers.
  * **Key Platform**: [cat-risk.com](http://cat-risk.com) (regulated, multi-carrier infrastructure layer).
  * **Credentials**: Lloyd's of London Coverholder (since Nov 2021); regulated via FCA Appointed Representative status.

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## Core Infrastructure & Business Model

Yokahu operates as a multi-carrier parametric underwriting platform. Instead of a traditional loss-adjustment model, payouts are strictly event-based, triggered automatically within hours when independently verified environmental parameters (e.g., wind speed, central pressure) meet defined thresholds.

### The cat-risk.com Platform

The proprietary technology stack automates the full insurance value chain:

  * **Multi-Carrier Appetite Sorting**: Integrates individual carrier capacity and constraints. The sorting algorithm coinsures deals across multiple Lloyd's Syndicates if terms align or extra capacity is required.
  * **Broker Deal Iteration**: Enables real-time pricing and dynamic structure iteration, allowing brokers to construct matching solutions for clients in minutes.
  * **Monetization**: Earns a platform and business facilitation commission of up to 7.5% on written premiums.

### Automated Policy Operations

1.  **Onboarding**: Direct API integration or white-labeled front-ends utilize Shufti Pro for mandatory automated KYC/KYB and AML compliance.
2.  **Aggregates & Limits**: Dynamic real-time checking protects delegated underwriting authorities.
3.  **Premium Reconciliation**: Integrated via Stripe and Diesta for immediate card/bank transfer matching.
4.  **Claims & Triggers**: Automatically monitors weather events via third-party providers (e.g., Reask's Metryc wind speed product). If a threshold is crossed, the platform handles logic verification (waiting periods, outstanding premiums), initiates lead underwriter authorization, and routes near-real-time payouts via Vitesse PSP directly to digital wallets, pre-paid cards, or bank accounts.

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## Product Portfolio

Policies utilize environmental metrics as proxies for financial loss to provide fast cash injections for secondary emergency expenses (loss of earnings, temporary relocation, interest payments).

  * **Tropical Cyclone**: Pre-agreed payout steps tied to hurricane eye central pressure and local wind speeds (e.g., requiring 74mph wind threshold at the pin's precise GPS coordinates).
  * **Retail Credit & Mortgage Protection**: Parametric loan default protections covering contractual payments for borrowers following catastrophic regional events. Excess payouts can be delivered as store credit or direct capital.
  * **Employee Benefits (EB) Schemes**: Group contracts distributed via employers to stabilize local workforces and protect employee incomes during business closures.
  * **Additional Perils**: Post-flood rent, wildfire evacuation, temperature variation indexes, solar irradiation performance hedges, and multi-factor crop yield protections.

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## Geographic Footprint & Regulatory Framework

  * **FCA Regulation**: Managed via an Appointed Representative agreement with ES Risks Ltd (part of the Howden group). Direct FCA authorization is projected for late 2025.
  * **Lloyd's Status**: Global Coverholder authority allows underwriting deployment across 200+ countries using the Lloyd's license network.
  * **Active Deployments**: Underwriting footprints span the USA, Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean territories including Jamaica, the Bahamas, St Lucia, and the US Virgin Islands. Expansion pipelines prioritize Australia and Typhoon risks in Asia.

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## Technical & Research Partnerships

  * **Climate Analytics**: Research integration with the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) Climatic Research Unit.
  * **Geospatial Peril Data**: Data partnerships with McKenzie Intelligence Services (GEO platform) and Reask (Metryc tool) for independent hazard validation.
  * **System Metrics**: Advanced risk engine utilizes geospatial machine learning, Monte Carlo methods, Markov Chain simulations, and Entropic superposition modeling to run predictive portfolio exposure analysis for real-time risk allocation.

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## Strategic Targets (Business Plan)

  * **Premium Projections**: Year 1: $20m | Year 2: $50m | Year 3: $100m. Long-term roadmap targets $400m+ premium ($30m revenue) by onboarding a backed pipeline of over 500 waitlisted broker offices.
  * **Staff Scaling**: Growing core operations from 6 full-time professionals to 20–30 roles spanning data science, dev ops, and business development.
  * **ESG & Sustainability**: Targets carbon-neutral preservation, UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) compliance, and active transition to certified B-Corp status.