We are excited to announce that Chainlink and Etherisc are launching a joint grant program to support the development and accelerate the adoption of data-driven decentralized insurance products. The program is focused on supporting projects that create sustainable, blockchain-based parametric insurance products built on Etherisc’s Generic Insurance Framework (GIF), increasing access to reliable and affordable decentralized insurance policies.

Blockchains can act as a highly reliable mechanism for processing insurance claims thanks to their immutable nature and decentralized security guarantees. Smart contracts allow for the terms of an insurance agreement to be codified into digital logic that executes in a tamper-proof manner based on predefined conditions (i.e., if x event happens, execute y action). When combined, these characteristics allow insurance policies to be programmed to autonomously process claims and make payouts once certain real-world data supplied by oracle networks is received. The result is automated insurance policies that are cheaper to provide thanks to lower human and technical overheads, quicker to settle, and more transparent due to their blockchain backend infrastructure.

Etherisc is a protocol for decentralized insurance applications. Etherisc uses blockchain technology and hybrid smart contracts to make the purchase and sale of insurance more efficient, bringing lower operational costs and greater transparency to the insurance process. Products enabled by Etherisc include crop insurance, flight delay insurance, hurricane protection, social insurance, and more. 

This grant initiative follows several other collaborations between Chainlink and Etherisc. Etherisc is using Chainlink Data Feeds in its blockchain-based flight insurance product FlightDelay and has previously received a Chainlink Community Grant alongside ACRE Africa for the creation of a blockchain-based parametric crop insurance solution that has already onboarded 22k Kenyan farmers who are receiving coverage for weather-related risks.

Apply for a Joint Grant from Chainlink and Etherisc

The Chainlink-Etherisc Joint Grant will focus on solutions innovating in the parametric insurance space and the infrastructure and tooling needed to support them.

The joint grant program is specifically focusing on proposals covering these areas:

• Core development—Core protocol research, specification, and implementation work. 
• Developer tools and libraries—Developer tools and libraries for both core protocol developers and application builders.
• “DeFi for good” use cases—Applications such as crop insurance, hurricane insurance, flood insurance, fire insurance, and other insurance products that have the potential to create a positive social impact.
• Integration and adoption—Proposals that support the growth of Chainlink, Etherisc, and related technologies through integration into existing applications or projects with significant usage.
• Insurance for underserved regions—Decentralized insurance products that are specifically designed to reach underserved populations and demographics.
• Data sources and tools—Proposals that help to provide a statistical database for DeFi insurance products, e.g. trusted computing on large datasets.
• Technical design—Proposals that aim to improve on the Chainlink and Etherisc protocol technical design.

Through the combination of Chainlink oracle networks and Etherisc’s Generic Insurance Framework (GIF), blockchain-based insurance has the potential to unlock a vast amount of value across a range of sectors, provide efficiency and transparency to create a level playing field for all stakeholders, and redefine the insurance landscape through permissionless, data-driven insurance products.

“We’re excited to launch this joint grant program with Chainlink to support the development and accelerate the adoption of decentralized blockchain-based insurance products,” stated Christoph Mussenbrock, co-founder and head of protocol and architecture at Etherisc. “This joint grant program aims to support the transition to data-driven insurance policies that improve the insurance process for both underwriters and users while supporting the economic betterment of local communities around the world.”

If you would like to participate in the Chainlink-Etherisc Joint Grant Program, please apply here by July 1, 2022.