IBISA has appointed Samdarshi Vikram Singh as chief executive officer (CEO) for India to support the climate insurtech’s expansion within the country, the company announced in a press release on 9 October.
Before joining IBISA, Singh spent nine years at Generali Central Insurance, most recently serving as senior vice president and head of government business and reinsurance. During his time there, his work spanned underwriting, product development, risk hedging, capacity building, and the customisation of insurance solutions. Earlier in his career, he also worked at Bharti AXA General and HDFC ERGO General.
He brings more than 18 years of experience across agricultural insurance, reinsurance and parametric solutions.
In the role, Singh will lead IBISA’s India strategy and team, develop new business with insurance and distribution partners, and extend the company’s work beyond agriculture into lending, SMEs, renewable energy and other sectors exposed to climate volatility.
IBISA group CEO and co-founder Maria Mateo said, “We have built strong product, technology and operational capabilities, and Sam brings the market, underwriting, reinsurance and parametric experience to translate them into larger and more diverse businesses.”
Having been active in India since 2019, IBISA will now work towards developing a broader portfolio for India’s climate-exposed economy.
Singh said, “India has the market depth and insurance capability to show what parametric solutions can achieve alongside traditional insurance: more transparent protection, faster claims, a better customer experience and stronger risk insight for insurers”, adding that “Success, however, depends on combining strong local partnerships with the ability to deliver both tailored and repeatable products at scale.”
The expansion comes as India moves to broaden catastrophe-risk coverage. Among the initiatives under consideration is a disaster home insurance programme combining parametric and indemnity-based protection for climate-exposed households.
Separately, Mahila Housing Trust said a parametric heat insurance programme paid out over INR2.06m (US$21,558) to women informal workers after temperatures exceeded predefined thresholds.
