InnSure Insurance Innovation Prize Program Culminates Product Launches, New Offerings, Project Scaling, and Increased Revenue for Climate Startups
NEW YORK, September 16, 2026 – InnSure, a mission-driven nonprofit catalyzing insurance innovation that addresses climate change, supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), today marked the conclusion of their successful Insurance Innovation Prize program.
The Prize, awarded to seven companies selected in January 2025, consisted of monetary funding to help each company achieve their individual project goals, plus access to 12 months of hands-on support through InnSure’s Creation Labs incubator program.
With InnSure and NYSERDA’s support, the awardees have developed and deployed nine novel insurance solutions promoting energy transition technologies over the course of the program. The awardees’ achievements during the period include successful product launches, new offerings, project scaling, and increased revenue:
Aphelian, formerly known as Sunereum Labs, is a platform built for the solar industry. With backing from Lloyd’s of London, the platform provides insurance and risk management for distributed solar. Since winning the Innovation Prize, the company has helped Farney Solar in New Bremen, NY cut downtime from 12 to 4 months, has graduated from Lloyd’s lab, and was named #1 Global Insurtech Startup 2025.
Energetic Capital is a credit-risk mitigation platform for clean energy projects. Its credit enhancement products include EneRate Credit Cover and Structured B2B Trade Credit, which launched in 2026. With 1,600+ sites across 46 states, Energetic Capital has generated 800k+ MWh.
EVSTAR develops and delivers underwritten warranty protection programs for EV charging hardware, helping OEMs, distributors, site hosts, fleet operators, and charging networks reduce financial risk, improve uptime, and ensure long-term business continuity. Through support from the Insurance Innovation Prize, EVSTAR expanded its charger lifecycle protection offerings, enabling coverage for new, installed, and older, post-OEM warranty charging assets across the United States. From 2024 to 2025, the company has grown 2,424% YoY in New York.
Exante is a parametric insurance platform that uses satellite imaging to inform insurance underwriting. Their flagship Sunshine Guarantee product offers homeowners with solar panels automatic pay outs when irradiation levels drop. Since winning the Insurance Innovation Prize, they have successfully brought this product to market in the United States.
Feedstock Supply Insurance (FSI), developed by Ecostrat and New Energy Risk, turns uncapped feedstock risk into a defined, financeable structure — capping delivered feedstock costs for up to 10 years and converting non-investment-grade biomass supply chains into bankable structures that lenders can underwrite with confidence. FSI is now in the market with several project developers, with the first policies expected to be delivered in the coming months.
Kellclair has developed a suite of products providing cover across the development and operational phases of Battery Energy Storage Systems. Its Performance Shortfall product offers cover against unforeseen Battery State of Health degradation, and its Technical Breakdown product extends the scope and duration of warranty cover to include parts, labor and lost revenue. These products are now available via Kellclair’s U.S. distribution partners, E-Capital Insurance Services.
kWh Analytics, a Beazley company, combines a decade of renewable energy risk expertise with top-tier carrier capacity to deliver purpose-built standardized tax credit insurance for distributed generation, unlocking liquidity across the clean energy market. With help from the NYSERDA funding, has developed a DG Tax Credit Insurance product which uses technology-enabled underwriting to provide tax-credit insurance for DG solar and storage transfers.
InnSure and NYSERDA provided each Prize winner with support as they raised capital, navigated approvals in New York, and found key partners and mentors. This was all done with the seven awardees’ common goal — bringing an insurance product or policy to market in the state — in mind.
“We’re proud to have partnered with NYSERDA on a program so important to our industry and to the future of green energy,” said Christopher Lowell, Managing Director at InnSure. “It has been a privilege to support this accomplished group of innovators in the development and deployment of their novel climate risk solutions over the past year and a half, and we could not have enjoyed the process more.”
“NYSERDA congratulates each Prize winner,” said NYSERDA Chief Program Officer Anthony Fiore. “These products are key to accelerating deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency technologies throughout the State. We look forward to seeing the Prize winners reach further success and continue to make meaningful change in the adoption and scaled deployment of clean technologies for years to come.”
“Novel insurance products such as those built by these Prize winners are highly complementary to the work of NY Green Bank and can be a powerful way to derisk clean energy projects,” said NY Green Bank President, Andrew Kessler. “We’re happy to be standing alongside the winners as they work to help to lower risk, mobilize private investment and lower the cost of capital, playing a key role in accelerating the deployment of commercialized technologies in the clean energy space.
To celebrate the culmination of their 18 months of work, the winners will be honored at InnSure’s 2026 Climate Forum on September 22, where they will participate in a panel discussion about their experiences and share details about their products.
About InnSure
InnSure is a nonprofit innovation hub with a mission to catalyze novel insurance solutions to climate risk challenges. Through its initiatives, InnSure brings together innovators from inside and outside of the insurance industry to contribute to a systemic rethinking of how insurance is delivered, from product design and distribution, to underwriting practices and risk capital/capacity management. For more on InnSure, visit innsure.org.
