In the wake of back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton, insurance adjusters face the daunting task of assessing the extensive damage across several southern states. Traditionally, they have relied on established methods, including on-site visits and using small planes equipped with high-resolution cameras to survey properties, roofs, and entire neighborhoods. These planes help speed up the claims process and prioritize urgent cases, but new technology is set to modernize and significantly accelerate this procedure.
Near Space Labs, a startup based in Brooklyn, New York, has introduced a groundbreaking technology called “Swifts”—stratospheric, AI-powered robotic cameras attached to weather balloons. These systems are being developed to streamline risk assessments for property damage. By next year, Swifts will be deployed to quickly assess damages caused by climate-related disasters like hurricanes.
Near Space Labs’ CEO, Rema Matevosyan, highlighted the advantages of the technology, noting that insurance companies can now access vital information almost immediately after a disaster, which accelerates the claim settlement process from weeks or months to just days. These weather balloons fly at altitudes much higher than airplanes, capturing high-resolution images over vast areas, covering thousands of square miles.
Matevosyan emphasized the efficiency of the Swifts, explaining that a single balloon flight can gather as much data as 800,000 drones. Compared to planes that must fly in time-consuming, back-and-forth patterns to capture damage, Swifts provide imagery in a fraction of the time, making them faster, more cost-effective, and more reliable.
Beyond disaster response, Near Space’s technology is being adopted by insurance and reinsurance companies, including Swiss Re, to analyze risk factors for pricing policies. The imagery collected—focused on details like roof conditions and surrounding vegetation—is integrated with AI datasets, allowing insurers to better understand and price potential risks. This capability has attracted significant investor interest.
Supported by venture firms such as Third Sphere, Crosslink Capital, and Toyota Ventures, Near Space Labs has raised $24 million to further develop its technology. With over 1,000 commercial missions already flown, the company aims to scale its operations and provide immediate disaster assessment solutions by next year. The portability of the Swift system allows operators to deploy it anywhere with ease, making it a game-changing tool for the insurance industry.
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