What Hillridge Technology does

Hillridge Technology Pty Ltd (ACN 626 518 474), founded in 2018 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, is a B2B insurtech company that builds weather index insurance technology for the agricultural sector. Its core platform enables parametric insurance products that pay out automatically based on objective weather data — temperature extremes, rainfall deficits, and rainfall excess — measured at designated weather stations or grid points, rather than on traditional loss assessment. Coverage types include Low Temperature (frost), High Temperature (heat stress), Excess Rainfall, and Deficit Rainfall (drought), with claims typically processed within 10 business days. The platform also supports a minimum coverage entry point of A$1,000, targeting smaller farming operations underserved by traditional multi-peril crop insurance, where Australian penetration is under 1%.

The company monetises by licensing its pricing and weather-monitoring software to insurance underwriting partners — Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI), Victor Insurance Australia (a Marsh subsidiary), and Crop Risk Underwriting (CRU) — and by distributing policies through Nutrien Ag Solutions (Australia's largest farm services company with 4,000+ farming experts) and an online portal at nutrien.weatherinsurance.com.au. End customers include broadacre crop farmers, graziers, irrigators, and horticulturalists across Australia. Underwriting is provided by MSI Australia, with Victor Insurance Australia as insurance partner and CRU acting as Managing General Agent.

In addition to its commercial Australian operations, Hillridge has expanded internationally under a US$200,000 grant (November 2021) from the NEAR Foundation to develop a blockchain-based parametric typhoon insurance platform piloted in Vietnam, using smart contracts on the NEAR protocol to automate payouts within 48 hours. The company is privately held, has disclosed no institutional venture funding beyond the NEAR grant, and operates with a small executive and engineering team.

Name

Hillridge Technology

Legal name

Hillridge Technology Pty Ltd

Website

https://hillridge.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hillridge Technology is an Australian B2B insurtech that licenses a weather index insurance platform to underwriters, enabling parametric payouts to farmers for frost, heat, excess rainfall, and drought risks, distributed via Nutrien Ag Solutions and online portals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Insurtech Software

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm Finance, Input Procurement & Risk Tools (Budgeting, Inventory, Insurance Links) (AFAAAFAO)

Keywords

• Parametric weather insurance
• Agricultural risk management
• Insurtech platform
• Weather index insurance
• Climate insurance technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Technology Licensing: Hillridge Technology licenses its weather insurance technology platform to insurance underwriting partners (Crop Risk Underwriting, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, Victor Insurance Australia). The company provides software for online pricing of weather index insurance and monitors weather for policies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hillridge Technology operates a weather index insurance platform that connects farmers to insurance underwriters. The platform enables parametric insurance policies that pay out automatically based on adverse weather events (temperature extremes, rainfall deficits or excess) measured at predetermined weather stations, rather than assessing actual crop or livestock damage. The technology is licensed to insurance underwriters and made available to farmers through partner distribution channels including Nutrien Ag Solutions, Crop Risk Underwriting brokers, and a direct real-time online portal.

Product overview

Hillridge Technology is a software start-up that operates a weather index insurance platform connecting farmers to insurance underwriters. The core product is the Hillridge Weather Index Insurance Platform, which provides online pricing and real-time weather monitoring to trigger parametric insurance payouts. Coverage types include Low Temperature, High Temperature, Excess Rainfall, and Deficit Rainfall. Distribution is handled through two partner channels: Nutrien Ag Solutions (direct real-time online portal) and Crop Risk Underwriting (via insurance brokers). An additional blockchain-based parametric typhoon insurance product is under development with NEAR Foundation funding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Weather Index Insurance Platform Hillridge's core software platform that connects farmers to insurance underwriters, enabling short-term, tailored weather-index coverage. The platform provides online pricing for parametric policies and real-time weather monitoring that automatically triggers claims calculation when adverse weather events occur.
• Online Weather Insurance Portal (Nutrien Ag Solutions) A real-time online portal (nutrien.weatherinsurance.com.au) operated by Nutrien Ag Solutions and powered by Hillridge's technology, where farmers can obtain instant quotes and purchase weather index insurance directly online.
• Crop Risk Underwriting (CRU) Weather Index Insurance Weather index insurance products distributed through Crop Risk Underwriting, a Managing General Agent authorized to quote, issue, and service policies on behalf of the underwriter using Hillridge's licensed weather insurance technology for online pricing and weather monitoring.
• Low Temperature Cover Parametric insurance coverage that pays out when temperatures fall below a specified threshold (e.g., below -1°C), protecting farmers and vineyards against frost damage.
• High Temperature Cover Parametric insurance coverage that pays out when temperatures exceed a specified threshold (e.g., above 46°C), protecting against heat stress damage to crops, orchards, and livestock.
• Excess Rainfall Cover Parametric insurance coverage that pays out when rainfall exceeds a predetermined threshold, protecting against losses from too much rain at critical times such as just before harvest.
• Deficit Rainfall Cover Parametric insurance coverage that pays out when rainfall falls below a predetermined threshold, protecting against drought and insufficient moisture for crops and livestock.
• Blockchain-based Parametric Typhoon Insurance A blockchain-based parametric insurance platform for tropical storms, hurricanes, and typhoons built on NEAR protocol, using parametric triggers based on storm location and wind strength from trusted independent weather data sources, with payouts automated via mobile within 48 hours.

Quantifiable outcome

• Claims paid within 10 business days (vs months for traditional insurance)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2021MSI partnered with Hillridge and Victor Insurance Australia to launch Australia's first direct real-time weather index insurance platform. MSI Australia (APRA licensed insurance company) is the insurer. Product developed jointly with MSI GuaranteedWeather (global weather risk management company), Victor Insurance Australia (Marsh subsidiary), and Hillridge.
• Victor Insurance Australia (Marsh)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2021Victor Insurance Australia, a subsidiary of Marsh (world's leading insurance broker and risk advisor), partnered with Hillridge and MSI to launch the real-time weather index insurance platform. Jointly developed the product with MSI GuaranteedWeather.
• Crop Risk Underwriting (CRU)coreTechnology or Integration · 11 August 2020Technology agreement signed August 2020 to bring Weather Index Insurance to Australian farm gates. CRU is a Managing General Agent (ABN 65 070 495 162) authorized to quote, issue and service policies on behalf of the underwriter. Hillridge licenses its weather insurance technology to CRU for online pricing and weather monitoring.
• Nutrien Ag SolutionscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAustralia's largest farm services company (formed from Ruralco and Landmark merger in 2019) with 4,000+ farming experts. Provides unparalleled farmer access for weather index insurance distribution through online portal (nutriend.weatherinsurance.com.au) and broker network.
• Cicada Innovations (GrowLab)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHillridge was part of the 2020 Cicada GrowLab cohort - Australia's pioneer deep-tech business incubator. Cicada Innovations is described as an 'ag ideas hub' bringing cutting-edge sustainable technology to market, located in Redfern, Sydney.
• MSI GuaranteedWeathercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSI GuaranteedWeather LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd., is a global weather risk management company. Jointly developed the weather index insurance product with Hillridge and Victor Insurance Australia.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Raincoat: Raincoat delivers parametric weather index insurance to smallholder farmers in Latin America, using mobile-based policy issuance and claims. It overlaps with Hillridge on parametric weather insurance for farmers but operates in a different geography (LatAm vs Australia/Vietnam) and at an earlier stage.
• Farmers Edge: Farmers Edge provides digital agronomy, farm data management, and risk-management tools (including insurance partnerships) for broadacre crop farmers. Comparable to Hillridge in serving farmer risk-management needs via digital tools, though its primary offering is precision-ag data rather than parametric insurance.

Direct peers

• Stable: Stable is an InsurTech platform offering parametric insurance products for climate and weather risks, often leveraging automation and data triggers. Comparable to Hillridge as a technology-first parametric insurance provider, though it targets broader risks beyond agriculture.
• CelsiusPro: CelsiusPro is a Zurich-based parametric weather insurance platform that structures and distributes index-based weather risk solutions to corporate and agricultural clients globally. It is the closest comparable to Hillridge in business model: a technology/structuring platform that enables real-time parametric weather cover rather than an insurance carrier itself.
• Arbol: Arbol operates a parametric insurance platform for weather and climate risks, connecting risk holders with capacity providers and using automated triggers for payouts. Like Hillridge, it is a technology platform enabling parametric weather cover rather than an underwriter, and it also serves agriculture use cases (drought, excess rain, frost).
• Pula: Pula designs and distributes agricultural insurance (including index-based products) for smallholder farmers across Africa and Asia, often via embedded partnerships with ag-input distributors. It is comparable to Hillridge in product (parametric crop/weather insurance) and in distribution approach (partner-led, low-ticket policies for smallholders), though it focuses on emerging markets.
• Demex Group: Demex is a climate risk analytics and parametric insurance platform focused on weather and climate peril transfers, serving insurers, reinsurers, and corporates. Highly comparable to Hillridge in being a parametric risk-transfer technology platform, with overlap in agriculture and weather risk use cases.

Broad incumbents

• AXA Climate (AXA XL): AXA Climate is the parametric and climate-risk insurance arm of global insurer AXA, offering index-based weather and natural catastrophe products including for agriculture. It is a broad incumbent offering overlapping capabilities to Hillridge but with global reach, balance sheet, and re-insurance access that Hillridge lacks.
• Munich Re: Munich Re is one of the world's largest reinsurers and a significant provider of parametric agricultural and weather insurance through its corporate/agro clients. It competes with Hillridge indirectly by providing capacity and structuring for the same parametric weather products at global scale.
• Swiss Re: Swiss Re is a leading global reinsurer offering parametric and index-based weather and agricultural covers, and an active investor/partner in agricultural InsurTech. It competes with Hillridge indirectly via re/insurers it provides capacity to, and could partner with Hillridge as a reinsurance backer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HillridgeTech
• Facebookfacebook.com/HillridgeTech
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hillridge-technology

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hillridge Technology