View source for Summary:Onda

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|1 = {{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}Lloyd's-backed cyber insurance MGA, founded 2022, technology-first underwriting, broker-only, UK/France/US, ~$10M raised, pre-profitability
|2 = {{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}Onda is a Lloyd's-backed cyber insurance MGA founded in 2022 by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, operating across the UK, France, and the United States through proprietary technology-driven underwriting on third-party carrier paper with approximately $10 million in venture funding.
|3 = {{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}🛡️ '''Onda''' is a Lloyd's-backed cyber insurance [[Definition:Managing general agent (MGA) | MGA]] founded in 2022 and co-founded by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and cybersecurity executive Paul Calatayud, operating across the UK, France, and the United States. The company distinguishes itself through a technology-first underwriting model powered by its proprietary Navigator platform, which replaces traditional proposal forms with automated cyber risk assessments, and distributes exclusively through brokers on [[Definition:Lloyd's syndicate | Lloyd's]] paper (via Canopius, Argenta, and Everest syndicates) in Europe and Crum & Forster [[Definition:Surplus lines | surplus lines]] paper in the US. Onda has raised approximately $10 million from generalist venture investors led by 8VC and remains in early growth phase, with its UK entity CKRe Limited reporting just £2 million in turnover as of December 2023, while facing elevated talent retention risk following the departure of its co-founder and entire French operational leadership team.
|4 = {{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}🛡️ '''Onda''' is a Lloyd's-backed cyber insurance [[Definition:Managing general agent (MGA) | MGA]] founded in 2022 by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and cybersecurity executive Paul Calatayud, operating through five legal entities across Luxembourg, the UK, France, and the United States. The company writes on third-party carrier paper — Canopius, Argenta, and Everest [[Definition:Lloyd's syndicate | syndicates]] in Europe, Crum & Forster [[Definition:Surplus lines | surplus lines]] in the US — and distributes exclusively through brokers using its proprietary Navigator platform to replace traditional proposal forms with automated risk assessments. Total group headcount is estimated at 35–50, and the company is a member of the UK Managing General Agents' Association.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}💰 '''Funding and capacity.''' Onda has raised approximately $10 million from generalist venture investors including 8VC, K5 Global, Northstar.VC, AAF Management, and Bhansali Equities, with no insurance-specialist VCs among its backers — an atypical composition for cyber MGA fundraising. Its two named products, Onda+ (SME, up to £5 million any-one-claim limits) and Onda X (mid-market, up to £5 million aggregate limits), cover [[Definition:Business interruption insurance | business interruption]], ransomware, social engineering, bricking, and regulatory fines, complemented by zero-deductible breach response services and an exclusive two-year partnership with Panorays for external attack surface management. The Navigator platform integrates with AWS, Azure, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike, combining internal telemetry, external scanning, and real-time threat intelligence, though Onda does not offer [[Definition:Managed detection and response (MDR) | MDR]] or SOC-as-a-service.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}⚠️ '''Risk profile and outlook.''' The company is pre-profitability and early-stage, with CKRe Limited (its UK entity) reporting £2 million in turnover and a Pomanda financial health score of 1 out of 7 as of December 2023. Talent retention risk is elevated: co-founder Paul Calatayud departed after 15 months, the entire French operational leadership left in 2025 (with Managing Director Frédéric Gatte joining competitor Coalition France), and the $10 million in total funding is thin relative to peers such as Coalition ($755 million), At-Bay ($292 million), and Cowbell ($122 million). The October 2025 US launch with Crum & Forster capacity represents Onda's most ambitious expansion into the world's largest cyber insurance market, but open questions remain around French operations continuity, corporate structure transparency, and loss experience after two-plus years of [[Definition:Gross written premium (GWP) | writing business]].
|5 = {{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}🛡️ '''Onda''' is a Lloyd's-backed cyber insurance [[Definition:Managing general agent (MGA) | MGA]] founded in 2022 by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and cybersecurity executive Paul Calatayud, operating through five legal entities across Luxembourg, the UK, France, and the United States. The parent holding company, Onda Holding S.A., is domiciled in Luxembourg, with the technology entity (Onda AI, Inc.) in Miami, the UK distribution vehicle (CKRe Limited, a repurposed FCA-authorized Lloyd's broker originally incorporated in 1998) in London, Onda SAS in Paris, and the US licensed producer (Onda Insurance Services, Inc.) holding [[Definition:Surplus lines | surplus lines]] licenses in over 40 states. The company was recognized as a triple finalist in the 2024 Cyber Insurance Awards Europe and is a member of the UK Managing General Agents' Association, with estimated total group headcount of 35–50.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}👔 '''Leadership and talent.''' Ashley Hirst (President and Managing Director) brings eight years at McKinsey and senior roles at AIG and Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, where he led the underwriting behind Coalition; Ed McGough (Group CTO) is a former AIG CIO of Commercial Underwriting and co-founder of Blackboard Insurance and Joyn Insurance, with a dual title at Pleiad Group suggesting shared technology infrastructure. Alex Jomaa (CUO), twice voted Underwriter of the Year by Insurance Insider's Cyber Rankings during his tenure at Tokio Marine Kiln, joined in mid-2023, while Patrick Cannon (Chief Claims Officer) brings 20-plus years of London market experience from TMK and Marsh. The dominant organizational lineage is AIG and Tokio Marine Kiln, with no identified AXA connection across any founder, executive, board member, investor, or capacity partner.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}💰 '''Funding and investors.''' Onda has raised approximately $10 million in total from 8VC (Lonsdale's own firm), K5 Global, Northstar.VC, AAF Management, and Bhansali Equities, with CB Insights recording a separate $500,000 convertible note from K5 Global Technology. No formal Series A has been announced, and the capital appears to have been raised quietly with no major press coverage. The investor base consists entirely of generalist tech and venture capital, with no insurance-focused or cyber-specialist VCs — an atypical composition that may limit strategic capital access relative to peers backed by Zurich, Allianz, or Munich Re arms.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}📋 '''Products and coverage.''' Onda offers two named products: Onda+ for SME companies (revenues up to £100 million / €100 million, any-one-claim limits up to £5 million / €5 million, UK and France) and Onda X for mid-market companies (revenues up to £1 billion, aggregate limits up to £5 million / $5 million, UK, France, and US). Both use proprietary [[Definition:Policy wording | policy wordings]] on a claims-made basis, covering [[Definition:Business interruption insurance | business interruption]] including third-party cloud outages, data restoration, ransomware and cyber extortion, bricking, reputational harm, social engineering, regulatory fines, and network security and privacy liability. Zero-deductible breach response services include 24/7 incident response hotlines, forensic experts, legal counsel, and crisis communications, managed through the Five Sigma AI-native claims platform selected in November 2024.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}🔍 '''Technology platform.''' The proprietary Navigator platform replaces traditional proposal forms with automated cyber risk assessments, integrating three data layers: internal telemetry (via connections to AWS, Microsoft Azure & Defender, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike), external attack surface analysis, and real-time threat intelligence. An exclusive two-year partnership with Panorays, announced in October 2024, provides external attack surface management and third-party/supply chain risk rating, with Panorays recognized as a Forrester Wave 2024 leader in cybersecurity risk ratings. Navigator and the 360-degree risk scan are included with every policy at no additional cost, positioned as a core differentiator — though Onda does not offer [[Definition:Managed detection and response (MDR) | MDR]], SOC-as-a-service, or active threat detection and response.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}🌍 '''Distribution and geography.''' Onda operates a broker-only distribution model across all three markets with no embedded, affinity, or direct channels, using a broker portal (portal.onda.ai) for quoting and binding and a policyholder dashboard (dashboard.onda.ai) for Navigator access. The company launched in the UK around October 2023 through CKRe Limited on [[Definition:Lloyd's syndicate | Lloyd's]] paper (Canopius and Argenta for Onda+, Everest Syndicate 2786 for Onda X), in France in early 2024 through Onda SAS, and entered the US in October 2025 through Onda Insurance Services on Crum & Forster surplus lines paper (rated A+ Superior by AM Best, part of Fairfax Financial Holdings). Distribution talent was recruited directly from competitors, with Stuart McMillan and Christopher Reynolds both joining from Coalition.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}📊 '''Financial position.''' CKRe Limited reported £2 million in turnover, £1.3 million in net assets, and £5.1 million in cash reserves as of December 2023, with a Pomanda financial health score of 1 out of 7 and a liabilities-to-assets ratio of 93.1%. The company is pre-profitability and early-stage; consolidated group financials are not publicly available, and the CKRe figures may not reflect the full group position if capitalization flows through Onda Holding S.A. or Onda AI, Inc. Onda's scale is several orders of magnitude smaller than market leaders, with Coalition reporting [[Definition:Gross written premium (GWP) | GWP]] exceeding $775 million and CFC exceeding £1 billion in annual premium.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}⚠️ '''Risk factors.''' Talent retention risk is elevated: co-founder Paul Calatayud departed after 15 months in January 2024, the entire French operational leadership (Gatte, de Maistre, Allomong-Cottet) departed in 2025 with Gatte joining competitor Coalition France, and at $10 million raised, Onda is thinly capitalized relative to Coalition ($755 million), At-Bay ($292 million), and Cowbell ($122 million). Capacity dependency on Canopius, Argenta, Everest, and Crum & Forster creates vulnerability to carrier relationship disruption, while operating across three regulatory regimes (FCA, ACPR, US state DOIs) adds compliance complexity. Corporate structure opacity — involving Onda Holding S.A., Risk Capital S.A., Agora Group Holdings Limited, and the Pleiad Group — creates additional due diligence complexity.{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}||{{pb}}}}{{#if:{{{bullet|}}}|* }}🧭 '''Strategic outlook.''' Onda's strategy centers on technology-first underwriting, broker-exclusive distribution, progressive geographic expansion, upmarket migration from SME to mid-market, and continuous monitoring as a retention tool, with the October 2025 US launch representing its most ambitious move to date. Open diligence questions include the status of French operations post-leadership exodus, the actual corporate relationship between Onda and the Pleiad Group ownership chain, loss experience after two-plus years of writing business, and whether additional fundraising is planned to sustain three-market competition. Onda's pure-play cyber positioning (no Tech E&O, D&O, or adjacent lines) differentiates it from Coalition and At-Bay but narrows its addressable [[Definition:Gross written premium (GWP) | premium]] pool, while the competitive landscape continues to consolidate around better-capitalized incumbents.
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