Onda

Onda
Corporate identity
Type	Private — cyber MGA platform
License type	MGA / Lloyd's coverholder (Europe) Licensed producer and surplus lines broker (United States)
NPN	21439548
Founded	2022 (2022)
Licensed jurisdictions	United States United Kingdom France
Regulator	Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (France) Financial Conduct Authority (United Kingdom, via CKRe Limited)
Key people	Alex Jomaa, Chief Underwriting Officer Patrick Cannon, Chief Claims Officer Gillian Harvey, Group Head of Compliance Kate Schulze, Head of Legal
Number of employees	32 (December 2023)
Business & markets
Customer segments	Upper SME to mid-market businesses with annual revenue up to $/£/€ 1 billion
Lines of business	Cyber insurance
Main products & services	Onda + (SME and lower mid-market) Onda X (mid-market, powered by Navigator)
Technology platform	Navigator (cyber risk and insurability management) Threat Lab (threat intelligence consulting) Clive by Five Sigma (claims management)
Capacity providers	Everest (via Lloyd's of London) Canopius Group Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Company (NAIC 44520)
Distribution	Broker-facing
Geographic markets	United States United Kingdom France

🛡️ Onda is a Lloyd's-backed cyber insurance 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 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.

👔 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.

💰 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.

📋 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 policy wordings on a claims-made basis, covering 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.

🔍 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 MDR, SOC-as-a-service, or active threat detection and response.

🌍 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 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.

📊 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 GWP exceeding $775 million and CFC exceeding £1 billion in annual premium.

⚠️ 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.

🧭 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 premium pool, while the competitive landscape continues to consolidate around better-capitalized incumbents.

The following sections provide further details.

```wiki 🏢 Onda is a Lloyd's-backed cyber insurance managing general agent (MGA) founded in 2022 by Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale and cybersecurity executive Paul Calatayud. Headquartered across Luxembourg, London, Paris, and Miami, the company operates through a proprietary technology platform called "Navigator" that replaces traditional proposal forms with automated cyber risk assessments. Onda distributes exclusively through brokers, writing on Lloyd's paper via Canopius, Argenta, and Everest syndicates in the United Kingdom and France, and through Crum & Forster surplus lines paper in the United States.

🌐 International footprint. The company launched in the UK in late 2023, expanded to France in early 2024, and entered the US market in October 2025. Onda has raised approximately $10 million in total funding from 8VC, K5 Global, Northstar.VC, AAF Management, and Bhansali Equities. The company was a triple finalist at the 2024 Cyber Insurance Awards Europe. Despite strong industry recognition, Onda remains early-stage: CKRe Limited, its UK distribution vehicle, reported just £2 million in turnover and £5.1 million in cash reserves as of December 2023.

📊 Scale and positioning. Total group headcount is estimated at 35–50, with approximately 15 employees at CKRe and a separate R&D team of roughly 20 staff based in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. Onda is a pure-play cyber insurer with no adjacent product lines such as Tech E&O or D&O, distinguishing it from larger peers like Coalition and At-Bay that bundle complementary coverages.

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Corporate profile and group structure

🏛️ Holding architecture. Onda operates through a multi-jurisdictional corporate group anchored by Onda Holding S.A., a Luxembourg parent entity registered at 33 rue du Puits Romain, L-8070 Bertrange (registration B266272). The technology and platform functions sit within Onda AI, Inc., a Florida corporation at 1110 Brickell Ave., Suite 515, Miami, FL 33131. US insurance production is handled by Onda Insurance Services, Inc., a Maryland-licensed entity (NPN 21439548) holding surplus lines producer licenses in over 40 states. UK distribution runs through CKRe Limited (Companies House 03600683), an FCA-authorized entity (FRN 308735) at 40 Lime Street, London, EC3M 7AW, trading as "Onda." French distribution operates through Onda SAS (RCS Paris 910621077), registered with ORIAS as intermediary #22005524 at 80 avenue d'Iéna, 75116 Paris.

📊 Onda — Legal Entity Structure

Entity	Jurisdiction	Role	Registration
Onda Holding S.A.	Luxembourg (B266272)	Parent holding company	33, rue du Puits Romain, L-8070 Bertrange
Onda AI, Inc.	Florida, USA	Technology / platform entity	1110 Brickell Ave., Suite 515, Miami, FL 33131
Onda Insurance Services, Inc.	Maryland, USA	US licensed insurance producer	NPN 21439548; MD License #30034368120; licensed in 40+ states
CKRe Limited (trading as "Onda")	England & Wales (03600683)	UK distribution / FCA-authorized entity	FCA FRN 308735; 2nd Floor, 40 Lime Street, London, EC3M 7AW
Onda SAS	France (RCS Paris 910621077)	French distribution entity	ORIAS #22005524; 80, avenue d'Iéna, 75116 Paris

📜 Legacy shell acquisition. CKRe Limited was originally incorporated on July 20, 1998, as a longstanding Lloyd's broker. Onda appears to have acquired or repurposed this FCA-authorized shell to gain immediate regulatory authorization for UK insurance distribution. CKRe's persons of significant control shifted to Agora Group Holdings Limited in April 2025, replacing Henri Junior Chalhoub, with Risk Capital S.A. listed as the 100% shareholder on record and Martin Andrew Wright named as a shareholder and director. The precise corporate link between Risk Capital S.A. and Onda Holding S.A. is not publicly established, though the entities functionally operate as a single group.

🔍 Regulatory status. Onda is not a carrier; it operates as an MGA writing on third-party carrier paper. It describes itself as an approved Lloyd's Coverholder, though a specific coverholder number was not located in public Lloyd's registers. In France, Onda SAS is supervised by the ACPR (Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution). In the US, Onda Insurance Services holds surplus lines producer licenses in over 40 jurisdictions. No BaFin (Germany), AFM (Netherlands), or other EU registrations exist — Onda does not operate in any EU market beyond France. No sanctions or enforcement actions have been recorded against any Onda entity.

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Founders and leadership

🧑‍💼 Joe Lonsdale — Co-Founder. An American entrepreneur, Lonsdale co-founded Palantir Technologies (the defense and intelligence data analytics company) and founded and serves as Managing Partner of 8VC, a leading Silicon Valley venture firm. His role at Onda is principally as founder and capital backer through 8VC. The Palantir background confers a defense- and intelligence-adjacent connection, though Lonsdale is not personally a member of the intelligence community. He has no direct insurance industry background but brings extensive startup experience across Palantir, Addepar, Affinity, OpenGov, and the broader 8VC portfolio.

⚔️ Paul Calatayud — Co-Founder & former Chief Strategy Officer (October 2022 – January 2024; departed). Calatayud served as a US Army information security cryptographer before holding senior cybersecurity roles including Global CSO at Palo Alto Networks, CISO at Aqua Security, Deputy CISO at UnitedHealth Group, CISO at Surescripts, Director of Risk & Compliance at Best Buy, and Instructor at the SANS Institute (2008–2022). He holds CISSP, CISA, CISM, and GCIH certifications along with a PhD in leadership. Calatayud departed Onda after approximately 15 months; his early exit is a notable due diligence signal.

📊 Onda — Current Leadership Team

Role	Name	Key Background
President & Managing Director	Ashley Hirst	BSc Mathematics & Computer Science (Manchester), MSc Finance (London Business School). McKinsey (8 years, 2004–2012). AIG (Head of Science/Distribution EMEA, then CUO/COO AIG Europe, 2012–2017). Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (Group Head of Underwriting Strategy, then CUO & Chief Innovation/Transformation Officer, 2017–2022; led underwriting behind Coalition at Swiss Re). At Onda since November 2022.
Group CTO	Ed McGough	BSc Computer Science (Nottingham, 1st Class), MBA (Edinburgh/Curtin). AIG (Head of Engineering, then CIO Commercial Underwriting, 2013–2017). Co-founder/CTO of Blackboard Insurance (AIG spinout). Co-founder/CTO of Joyn Insurance. Also listed as Group CTO at Pleiad Group.
Chief Underwriting Officer	Alex Jomaa	Law graduate. Senior Cyber Underwriter at Tokio Marine Kiln (10+ years). Twice voted Underwriter of the Year (2016, 2017) by Insurance Insider's Cyber Rankings. Joined Onda mid-2023.
Chief Claims Officer	Patrick Cannon	FCII. Head of Cyber Claims at TMK; Head of Cyber Claims at Marsh (won Claims Service Solution of the Year 2023, Insurance Times Awards). 20+ years London market experience.
Group Head of Compliance	Gillian Harvey	Deputy Group Head of Compliance at Athora Holding. Previous roles at Chubb, CFC Underwriting, HDI Global Specialty, AmTrust Europe, Financial Ombudsman Service.
Distribution Director	Stuart McMillan	Former Coalition (led expansion in North England, Scotland, Northern Ireland). 13+ years in international insurance markets.
Head of Product	Fabiana	10+ years at AIG, Blackboard Insurance, Joyn Insurance. BS Production Engineering, MS Management Science & Engineering.
Attorney, Legal	Kate	20+ years; former US DOJ litigation attorney and SEC Senior Counsel.
US Business Development	Christopher Reynolds	Former Coalition (4 years, broker distribution); former broker.
US Business Development	AJ Jones	Former Beazley Group (since 2015; cyber/tech underwriting, claims, distribution).

🇫🇷 French leadership departures. The France operation was initially led by Stanislas Chapron (President of Onda SAS; ex-President of Marsh France/Europe, ex-DG at Siaci Saint Honoré; École Polytechnique and Stanford MS; military/defense background including the AWACS program). Frédéric Gatte served as Managing Director (ex-Head of Cyber at Diot-Siaci; described as a former naval officer), Gina Allomong-Cottet as Senior Underwriter (ex-AIG Paris, American attorney), and Alexis de Maistre as Commercial Director. All three operational leaders — Gatte, de Maistre, and Allomong-Cottet — departed Onda by mid-to-late 2025. Gatte joined Coalition France as Director of Underwriting in August 2025.

🏷️ Corporate DNA. The dominant corporate lineage across the leadership team is AIG (Hirst, McGough, Fabiana) and Tokio Marine Kiln (Jomaa, Cannon). No identified AXA connection exists across any founder, executive, board member, investor, or capacity partner.

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Funding and valuation

💰 Capital raised. Total funding is estimated at approximately $10 million according to PitchBook, though the precise breakdown across rounds and instruments varies by source. CB Insights records an initial $500,000 convertible note from K5 Global Technology, while PitchBook aggregates the full amount across AAF Management, Bhansali Equities, K5 Global, and Northstar.VC. The discrepancy likely reflects partial versus comprehensive tracking. No formal Series A announcement has been made, and no press releases or prominent tech media coverage of any funding round was found, suggesting capital has been raised quietly.

📊 Onda — Funding Rounds

Source	Amount	Round Type	Investors Listed
CB Insights	$500K	Convertible Note	K5 Global Technology
PitchBook	$10M (total)	—	AAF Management, Bhansali Equities, K5 Global, Northstar.VC
Crunchbase	—	Seed	K5 Global, Northstar.VC
Bhansali SFO	—	—	8VC, K5 Global, Northstar.VC

🏦 Investor profile. The investor base leans toward generalist tech and venture capital anchored by Lonsdale's personal network. 8VC (Lonsdale's firm) carries a Palantir/defense-tech pedigree but is not insurance-specific. No AXA-linked investors (AXA Venture Partners, AXA XL Innovation, Kamet Ventures) and no insurance-focused or cyber-specialist venture funds are among the disclosed backers — an atypical profile for cyber MGA fundraising. The absence of strategic insurance capital distinguishes Onda from peers backed by Zurich, Allianz, or Munich Re venture arms.

📈 Runway signals. CKRe Limited held £5.1 million in cash against £2 million turnover as of December 2023, suggesting either premium trust funds, parent capitalization, or reserve balances. The relatively modest disclosed funding for an MGA operating across three markets suggests either additional unreported capital, significant bootstrapping, or lean cost structures enabled by the Pleiad Group technology infrastructure shared with Joyn Insurance.

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Customer segments

🎯 Product segmentation. Onda markets two primary products differentiated by revenue threshold and limit structure. Onda+ targets SME companies with revenues up to £100 million / €100 million, offering limits up to £5 million / €5 million on an any-one-claim basis across the UK and France. Onda X targets the mid-market with revenues between £100 million and £1 billion (UK/France) or $50 million and $1 billion (US), providing aggregate limits up to £5 million / $5 million on a primary or excess basis across the UK, France, and the US.

📊 Onda — Product Segments

Product	Revenue Threshold	Max Limits	Limit Basis	Geography
Onda+	Up to £100M / €100M	£5M / €5M	Any one claim	UK, France
Onda X	£100M–£1B (UK/FR); $50M–$1B (US)	£5M / $5M	Aggregate; primary or excess	UK, France, US

🏭 Industry focus. Onda markets itself as industry-agnostic with no publicly stated vertical exclusions. Educational content and threat intelligence output focuses broadly on ransomware, social engineering, and supply chain risks across all commercial sectors. No enterprise segment (revenue above $1 billion) product exists, and maximum single-risk capacity is capped at £5 million / $5 million.

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Cyber insurance coverage

📋 Policy form. Onda uses proprietary ("bespoke") policy wordings rather than standard carrier paper, with named products Onda+ (SME) and Onda X (mid-market). Full policy wording documents are not publicly available. The policy trigger is consistent with standard claims-made cyber forms based on published claims guidance language.

🔐 First-party coverages. The marketed first-party coverages include business interruption and system failure cover (increased costs of working and loss of profits, explicitly extending to third-party IT provider and cloud outages), data and system restoration costs, ransomware and cyber extortion payments (described as "last resort" coverage subject to policy limitations), bricking (system replacement where repair is impractical including vulnerable hardware and software updates), reputational harm (future revenue loss resulting from a cyberattack), and social engineering and funds transfer fraud (covering stolen funds via system hacking, redirected payments, and confidence-trick-induced transfers).

🛡️ Third-party coverages. Network security and privacy liability is implied in coverage of third-party claims arising from data breaches and network security failures. Data breach notification costs are explicitly covered for GDPR and regulatory notification compliance. Regulatory fines and penalties coverage applies to fines or corrective actions imposed by authorities post-breach. Media liability, PCI-DSS, and Tech E&O are not explicitly listed among the available coverages.

🚨 Breach response services. Onda provides zero-deductible access to a panel of incident response providers, including 24/7 hotlines (US: +1 800 385 0622; UK: 020 8158 9113), IT security and forensic experts, legal counsel, and crisis communications specialists. Claims are managed through the Five Sigma AI-native claims management platform, selected in November 2024. Each case is assigned a named underwriter with direct contact.

⚖️ Coverage differentiation. Onda+ provides any-one-claim limits, meaning each claim receives the full limit unreduced by other claims. Onda X provides aggregate limits on a primary or excess basis. Both products cap at £5 million / $5 million, with no coverage feature differentiation beyond limit structure publicly disclosed.

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Cybersecurity services

🔬 Pre-bind services. Onda generates a free, no-obligation risk report in seconds with actionable remediation steps for prospective policyholders. Every quotation includes a complimentary 360° risk scan powered by a Panorays integration and in-house scanning, delivering a Cyber Insurability Assessment via Navigator. Additional capabilities include external attack surface analysis and third-party/supply chain risk mapping through Panorays.

📡 Continuous monitoring. Navigator, Onda's proprietary platform, provides ongoing vulnerability monitoring with actionable insights, live threat intelligence feeds, and supply chain oversight throughout the policy period. Integrations span AWS, Microsoft Azure & Defender, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike for internal telemetry. The risk engine combines three data layers: Navigator internal telemetry, external attack surface analysis, and real-time threat intelligence. Onda does not offer MDR, SOC-as-a-service, or managed security operations; its monitoring is risk-assessment and alerting focused rather than active threat detection and response.

🔧 Technology stack. Navigator is proprietary software. The exclusive two-year Panorays partnership, announced in October 2024, provides external attack surface management and third-party risk rating — Panorays was recognized as a leader in the Forrester Wave 2024 for cybersecurity risk ratings. Five Sigma provides AI-native claims management. The R&D team of approximately 20 engineers operates from Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., and Ed McGough's parallel title at Pleiad Group suggests shared technology infrastructure with Joyn Insurance.

💼 Business model. Navigator and the 360° risk scan are included with every policy at no additional cost to policyholders or brokers. There is no separate subscription or freemium model. This is positioned as a core differentiator versus competitors that charge separately for cybersecurity tools.

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Product expansion

🎯 Pure-play focus. Onda is a pure-play cyber insurance MGA. No adjacent lines — Tech E&O, D&O, EPL, crime, professional liability, general liability, or property — have been launched or publicly announced. No product roadmap or multi-line ambitions have been disclosed, and the company does not appear to harbor full-stack carrier ambitions. This positioning contrasts directly with Coalition (which bundles Tech E&O) and At-Bay (which offers Tech E&O alongside cyber).

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Distribution and geographic expansion

🤝 Broker-exclusive model. Onda operates a broker-only distribution model across all three markets and does not solicit insurance directly from commercial customers. No evidence of embedded, affinity, bancassurance, white-label, or open API distribution channels exists. Key platform capabilities include a broker portal (portal.onda.ai) for quoting, binding, and policy management; a policyholder dashboard (dashboard.onda.ai) for Navigator access and risk monitoring; a streamlined application process replacing traditional proposal forms with technology-driven assessments; and direct access to named decision-making underwriters. The quote-to-bind workflow is described as achievable "in clicks, not days." Distribution talent has been recruited directly from competitors: Stuart McMillan and Christopher Reynolds both joined from Coalition.

📊 Onda — Geographic Presence

Market	Launch Date	Entity	Licensing Approach	Capacity Provider
UK	~October 2023	CKRe Limited (FCA FRN 308735)	Lloyd's Coverholder via FCA-authorized broker	Canopius, Argenta (Onda+); Everest Syndicate 2786 (Onda X)
France	~Early 2024	Onda SAS (ORIAS 22005524)	Lloyd's Europe via ACPR-supervised intermediary	Canopius, Argenta (Onda+); Everest (Onda X)
US	October 2025	Onda Insurance Services, Inc. (NPN 21439548)	Surplus lines producer, 40+ state licenses	Crum & Forster Specialty (NAIC 44520)

🌍 Expansion trajectory. No operations exist in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, or other markets, and no German, Dutch, or Spanish language press coverage of Onda has been identified. The US launch in October 2025 was the latest expansion.

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Carrier, reinsurance, and strategic partnerships

📑 Capacity providers. Onda's capacity is sourced from A-rated or better carriers across all three markets. In the UK and France, Onda+ writes on Lloyd's paper through Canopius (lead) and Argenta, carrying Lloyd's ratings of A (AM Best) and A+ (S&P). Onda X writes through Everest via Lloyd's Syndicate 2786, a syndicate established in 2015 and 100% backed by Everest and managed by Asta, rated A+ Superior (AM Best) and AA- Very Strong (S&P). In the US, Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Company (NAIC 44520), part of Fairfax Financial Holdings, provides surplus lines capacity rated A+ Superior (AM Best).

📊 Onda — Capacity Provider Summary

Market	Carrier / Syndicate	Structure	Rating
UK/France (Onda+)	Canopius (lead) + Argenta via Lloyd's	Lloyd's binder (coverholder arrangement)	A (AM Best), A+ (S&P) — Lloyd's ratings
UK/France (Onda X)	Everest via Lloyd's Syndicate 2786	Lloyd's binder	A+ Superior (AM Best), AA- Very Strong (S&P)
US	Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Company	Surplus lines, non-admitted	A+ Superior (AM Best)

🤝 Strategic partnerships. Onda's most significant external partnership is its exclusive two-year agreement with Panorays, announced in October 2024, for external attack surface and third-party/supply chain cyber risk assessment. Five Sigma, selected in November 2024, provides the AI-native claims management platform powering Onda's global cyber claims operations. Onda is a member of the MGAA (UK Managing General Agents' Association). No AXA XL capacity or reinsurance relationship, no AXA Venture Partners or Kamet Ventures investment, and no distribution agreement with any AXA entity have been identified.

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Competitive positioning

📉 Market share. With CKRe reporting £2 million in turnover as of December 2023 and the first product having launched only in late 2023, Onda is in the earliest stages of premium growth. For context, Coalition reports a GWP run rate exceeding $775 million, CFC exceeds £1 billion in annual premium, and mid-tier peers like Cowbell have raised over $100 million. Onda's scale is several orders of magnitude smaller than market leaders.

🏰 Competitive moat. Onda's claimed differentiators center on four pillars: technology-driven underwriting through Navigator (replacing proposal forms with automated risk assessment), the exclusive Panorays partnership for external attack surface and supply chain risk, Lloyd's-backed capacity of A-rated or better quality across all markets, and a talent pedigree combining AIG Advanced Data Science lineage (Hirst, McGough) with Alex Jomaa's two-time Underwriter of the Year market reputation. However, Lloyd's capacity access alone is not unique — multiple peer MGAs (Stoïk, Cogitanda, Sync Underwriting) also write on Lloyd's paper — and talent retention risk is elevated given co-founder and French team departures.

🔄 Peer benchmarking. Among European-origin, broker-distributed, Lloyd's-backed SME/mid-market cyber MGAs, Onda clusters most closely with Stoïk (France-founded, similar SME focus), Cogitanda (Germany-founded, European focus), and Sync Underwriting (UK, Lloyd's coverholder). It is meaningfully smaller and earlier-stage than Coalition, At-Bay, Cowbell, or Resilience, all of which have raised over $100 million and achieved significant GWP scale. Within Europe, Eye Security (MDR plus insurance bundle) and Elpha Secure (France-based) represent the closest operational competitors. The pure-play cyber focus (no Tech E&O or D&O adjacencies), absence of MDR/SOC capabilities, and broker-only distribution model further distinguish Onda from the broader competitive field.

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Financial performance

📊 Onda — Key Financial and Operating Metrics (December 2023)

Metric	Value	Source
Revenue (CKRe UK entity)	£2M	Companies House
Net assets (CKRe)	£1.3M	Companies House
Cash reserves (CKRe)	£5.1M	Companies House
Employees (CKRe)	~15	Companies House
Total group employees (est.)	35–50	Aggregated sources
Total funding raised	~$10M	PitchBook

📊 Financial trajectory. Onda is pre-profitability and in early growth phase, having launched its first UK product in late 2023, France in early 2024, and the US in October 2025. The Onda X mid-market expansion in March 2025 represents the most significant product evolution to date. The £2 million CKRe turnover figure may include legacy Lloyd's broking activity rather than solely Onda MGA commissions, suggesting a very modest premium base as of year-end 2023.

⚠️ Financial health indicators. CKRe's £5.1 million cash position combined with the estimated $10 million in external funding provides a finite but meaningful runway. CKRe's full accounts to December 31, 2024, were filed in August 2025 but were not accessed in this research. The Pomanda financial health score of 1 out of 7 for CKRe, with a liabilities-to-assets ratio of 93.1%, suggests financial pressure at the UK entity level, though this may not reflect the consolidated group position if capitalization flows through Onda Holding S.A. or Onda AI, Inc.

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Risk factors

⚡ Capacity dependency. Onda relies entirely on third-party capacity from Canopius, Argenta, Everest, and Crum & Forster. Loss of any carrier relationship — particularly if early loss experience proves unfavorable — would directly impair the company's ability to write business. The multi-carrier, multi-market structure mitigates single-point failure but increases contractual complexity.

🚪 Key-person and talent retention risk (elevated). Co-founder Paul Calatayud departed after just 15 months in January 2024. The entire French operational leadership team — Gatte, de Maistre, and Allomong-Cottet — departed in 2025, with Gatte joining direct competitor Coalition France. This pattern of early senior departures is a significant due diligence concern and may signal strategic disagreements, compensation issues, or operational challenges. CUO Alex Jomaa and President Ashley Hirst remain, but their retention is critical to operational continuity.

💵 Funding risk. At an estimated $10 million raised with no disclosed Series A from institutional insurance-specialist investors, Onda is thinly capitalized relative to competitors. Coalition has raised $755 million, Cowbell $122 million, and At-Bay $292 million. The ability to fund three-market operations, technology development, and marketing simultaneously is constrained, and the absence of insurance-focused venture capital may limit strategic capital access.

🏟️ Competitive risk. The cyber MGA market is crowded and consolidating. Coalition's August 2025 entry into France — hiring Onda's own France Managing Director — directly threatens Onda's position in that market. Established peers have deeper capital reserves, larger datasets, and broader distribution networks.

🔗 Corporate structure opacity. The relationship between Onda Holding S.A. (Luxembourg), Risk Capital S.A. (CKRe shareholder), Agora Group Holdings Limited (CKRe PSC as of April 2025), and the Pleiad Group (where Ed McGough holds a CTO title) is not fully transparent. This layered, multi-jurisdictional structure may be standard for a startup with multiple operating entities but creates due diligence complexity.

🌐 Regulatory and aggregation risk. Operating across three jurisdictions with different regulatory regimes (FCA, ACPR, US state DOIs) creates compliance complexity. Cyber insurance inherently carries correlation and aggregation risk from systemic events such as cloud provider outages and widespread ransomware campaigns, which is managed at the carrier level but directly affects Onda's loss experience and capacity renewal prospects.

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Strategy and outlook

🧭 Strategic pillars. Onda's visible strategic framework rests on five pillars: technology-first underwriting using Navigator to replace traditional proposal forms; broker-exclusive distribution with a frictionless digital platform; progressive geographic expansion (UK to France to US); upmarket migration from SME to mid-market via Onda X; and continuous monitoring as a retention and risk-selection tool.

🇺🇸 US expansion. The October 2025 US launch with Crum & Forster capacity represents Onda's most ambitious expansion, entering the world's largest cyber insurance market. The hiring of Christopher Reynolds and AJ Jones — both with competitor experience at Coalition and Beazley respectively — signals intent to build US distribution rapidly. The mid-market pivot via Onda X, targeting companies with revenues up to $1 billion and limits of $5 million, increases average premium size but requires more sophisticated underwriting.

❓ Open diligence questions. Status of French operations: the entire French operational leadership team departed by mid-2025, and it is unclear whether Onda has recruited replacements. Corporate structure clarity: the actual relationship between Onda, Pleiad Group, and the CKRe ownership chain remains opaque. Loss experience: after more than two years of writing business, no loss metrics are publicly available. Fundraising plans: at $10 million raised, the company appears undercapitalized for a three-market MGA. Panorays exclusivity scope: it is unclear whether the exclusivity precludes Panorays from working with all cyber insurers or only within a specific segment or geography. French departures: the root cause — whether strategic disagreement, compensation, or operational difficulties — remains unknown. CKRe December 2024 filing: this document, available at Companies House, may reveal meaningful GWP or revenue growth.

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Company timeline

📊 Onda — Key Events (2022–2025)

Date	Event
2022	Onda founded by Joe Lonsdale and Paul Calatayud.
October 2022	Ashley Hirst joins as President & Managing Director.
2022–2023	Convertible note ($500K) from K5 Global Technology; additional capital from 8VC, Northstar.VC, AAF Management, Bhansali Equities (total ~$10M per PitchBook).
Mid-2023	Alex Jomaa (ex-TMK) hired as CUO and Head of UK.
~October 2023	UK launch — Onda goes live in London as Lloyd's-backed cyber MGA.
January 2024	Co-founder Paul Calatayud departs.
Early 2024	France launch — Onda SAS operational under Stanislas Chapron and Frédéric Gatte, with Canopius and Argenta as Lloyd's capacity.
June 2024	Gina Allomong-Cottet and Alexis de Maistre join French operations.
October 1, 2024	Exclusive two-year partnership with Panorays announced.
November 2024	Five Sigma selected as AI-native claims management platform.
March 12, 2025	Onda X mid-market product launched (UK and France) with Everest as carrier through Lloyd's Syndicate 2786.
April 2025	Agora Group Holdings Limited becomes person of significant control of CKRe Limited.
Mid-2025	Alexis de Maistre departs Onda France.
August 2025	Frédéric Gatte departs to Coalition France; Gina Allomong-Cottet departs to Chubb.
October 2025	US launch — Onda Insurance Services operational with Crum & Forster capacity; Christopher Reynolds and AJ Jones hired.

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