"The advantage of our contracts is there is no claims process or need to demonstrate asset loss," Friedberg says. "Technically, we're not selling insurance–we're selling a financial instrument. We pay solely based on weather conditions. We're not measuring the impact on the client's business."

So, for instance, if a golf course owner wants to protect his business against rainy weather, he can visit WeatherBill's Web site (www.weatherbill.com), choose his location on a map, and request a specific amount of coverage for every day it rains from April 1 to August 31. WeatherBill's online platform, which uses open-sourced statistical packages and software such as Java and MySQL, delivers a contract price within seconds. The golf course owner can adjust the contract's terms as necessary before purchasing any coverage.

"Using technology, we've been able to automate all three steps of the process: pricing, buying, and getting paid," Friedberg contends.

WeatherBill employs fewer than 30 people, but Friedberg expects that number to rise as the company grows. Current clients range from car wash companies to amusement parks to ski equipment manufacturers.

In addition to selling contracts, WeatherBill offers free analytical tools to help companies better understand how weather affects their profitability. Companies can upload their QuickBooks reports or financial spreadsheets into an online application. Looking at historical revenue and historical weather patterns, WeatherBill's system instantly analyzes a correlation trend and submits a report to the company. WeatherBill does not store, keep, or make a record of any of the information submitted.

"A lot of companies don't spend time thinking about how the weather impacts their business," says Friedberg. "For example, a restaurant that has half its seating on the patio may not realize how much money it's losing every year when there's an unusual number of cold or rainy days. We're trying to help people by empowering them with tools that aren't available anywhere else."

Weather's universal impact–and the attention it receives–bodes well for WeatherBill's future. In fact, shortly after the company launched in mid-January, the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change issued a report on global warming that generated a lot of weather-related news coverage and discussions.

"People are becoming aware of the fact climate can have an impact," Friedberg asserts. "The weather is going to be a significant variable in businesses, and we provide a service to help companies remove that variable." TD