# Understory

> Understory is a Madison-based climate insurance company that combines its solar-powered Dot weather sensors, proprietary catastrophe models and insurance software to price severe-weather risk, warn customers before storms and streamline claims. Its flagship Dealers Open Lot program serves automotive dealer groups, while the company is expanding the same risk-mitigation playbook into renewable energy.

- **Founded:** 2012
- **Headquarters:** Madison, United States
- **Founders:** Alex Kubicek (Co-founder and CEO), Bryan Dow (Co-founder and technology leader), Alexander Jacobs (Co-founder), Neil Irwin (Co-founder and insurance executive)
- **Team size:** 34 employees in the supplied company dataset; the company website previously listed 25 committed employees
- **Products:** Dot weather sensor, Hyperlocal Climate Risk Engine, UnderstoryOS, Auto-Hail Safe, Dealers Open Lot
- **Notable:** Built a global Dot sensor network spanning three continents and analyzed more than 600 storms, according to company materials., Protected dealer inventory at nearly 1,000 U.S. locations by 2024., Raised a $15 million oversubscribed Series A in June 2024 to expand into renewable energy.

## Products & services

- **Dot weather sensor** — A solar-powered, cellular, solid-state ground sensor that measures hail, wind, rain, temperature, pressure, humidity and solar radiation at up to 125,000 readings per second.
- **Hyperlocal Climate Risk Engine** — A catastrophe-modeling platform that combines proprietary ground observations, historical data, third-party models and machine learning for property-level risk selection and pricing.
- **UnderstoryOS** — Insurance operating software for broker management, pricing, quoting, policy administration, claims workflows, alerts and real-time risk-adjusted underwriting.
- **Auto-Hail Safe** — A parametric supplemental hail policy for automotive dealers that used on-site Dot measurements to trigger claims without traditional adjustment.
- **Dealers Open Lot** — A group-captive commercial property program for U.S. auto dealers that combines coverage, mitigation alerts and potential participation in underwriting profit.
- **Renewable energy insurance** — An insurance and risk-mitigation offering aimed at climate-exposed renewable energy assets, including solar operations vulnerable to hail.

## Achievements

- Built a global Dot sensor network spanning three continents and analyzed more than 600 storms, according to company materials.
- Protected dealer inventory at nearly 1,000 U.S. locations by 2024.
- Raised a $15 million oversubscribed Series A in June 2024 to expand into renewable energy.
- Won the 2020 AgTech Breakthrough Award for AgTech Insurance Solution of the Year.
- Reported 500% year-over-year growth in the year preceding the June 2024 financing.
- Reported that one customer reduced hail damage from $110 million to $50 million after acting on early warnings.
- Returned its headquarters to Madison in 2016 after raising a $7.5 million round.

## Latest updates

- **2022-11** — Understory and Skyward Specialty launched a group-captive Dealers Open Lot program for U.S. automotive dealerships.
- **2024-06** — The company closed a $15 million Series A co-led by True Ventures and Prelude Ventures.
- **2024-06** — Understory announced expansion into renewable energy insurance, applying its hail modeling and mitigation technology to assets such as solar farms.
- **2025** — A Skyward Specialty earnings discussion said the Understory-backed automotive property captive was entering its fourth year and driving growth in Skyward's group-captive business.
- **2026** — A company executive said Dealers Open Lot served more than 100 leading U.S. dealer groups, had launched an offering for mega-dealers, and was preparing a dedicated renewable energy vertical; these figures are company-reported.

## Links

- Website: https://understoryweather.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/understoryinc
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/UnderstoryWx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SubsidenceInc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/understory
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-22