When global supply chains break, traditional insurance doesn’t just slow down — it fails. And that failure has become impossible to ignore. In this episode of the Scouting for Growth Podcast, Sabine VanderLinden speaks with Yann Barbarroux, CEO and co-founder of OTONOMI, an InsurTech redefining how supply-chain risk is insured, triggered, and paid. At a time when volatility is the new normal, Yann shares how his team successfully closed a USD $3.4 million fundraising round — during one of the most uncertain market environments in recent memory. Yann’s path to entrepreneurship is forged in financial markets, not startup folklore. Beginning his career on Wall Street in 2003, he spent nearly two decades in capital markets, risk management, and technology, including senior roles at CitiGroup, where he worked on structured credit and emerging markets. In 2017, as digital assets began reshaping finance, Yann joined Citi Ventures’ innovation arm, incubating what would eventually become OTONOMI inside the bank’s lab. Five years in blockchain, he notes, feels like decades elsewhere. That experience exposed a hard truth: insurance and financial operating models haven’t kept pace with real-world risk. Outdated pricing, heavy processes, and slow claims simply can’t handle today’s supply-chain shocks. Yann found the breakthrough in parametric insurance — the insurance equivalent of financial derivatives — and pushed it further. OTONOMI delivers binary, data-triggered contracts that respond instantly to supply-chain disruption, rather than months later. The urgency became undeniable in 2021. First, a once-in-a-century Texas snowstorm froze logistics networks and left cargo players exposed to massive, unrecoverable losses. Weeks later, the Suez Canal blockage brought global trade to a standstill. In both cases, insurance contracts were too slow, too opaque, and too disconnected from operations to help when it mattered most. OTONOMI’s response? A “detect, activate, and pay” infrastructure that compresses claims resolution from 45 days to 45 minutes — using secure data sources, digital payments, and smart-contract logic. It’s not just faster insurance; it’s operational resilience embedded into the supply chain itself. Against all expectations, Yann and his team didn’t struggle to fundraise in this climate — they thrived. Despite inflation, geopolitical instability, and tightening capital, OTONOMI closed its round in just 3–4 months. One unexpected lesson stood out: in-person connection matters. After two years of virtual meetings, a handshake in Austin proved more powerful than a pitch deck — and term sheets followed within weeks. This episode is essential listening for: Insurance leaders rethinking risk in a volatile world Supply-chain and logistics executives facing systemic disruption InsurTech founders navigating fundraising in tough markets Investors focused on infrastructure-level innovation As Yann makes clear, the future of insurance isn’t about paying claims faster — it’s about making resilience programmable. And in a world of constant disruption, that may be the most valuable protection of all.