Problem How it works For companies For investors Business model FAQ Book a call

Stay steady
when the market
makes waves.

Ballast shows which outside numbers your margin really depends on, then turns those risks into contracts that pay out automatically when an index crosses an agreed threshold.

Check your exposure How it works
exposure.mapsample data

Proposed structure

ballast/problem

Large corporations hedge almost everything. Mid-sized companies hedge almost nothing.

A middle-market company, with revenue in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, usually hedges its exchange rate and interest rate at most. Yet its results mostly depend on very different numbers: occupancy, freight rates, crop yields, weather, foot traffic. Those risks stay on the balance sheet because there is no simple product to take them on.

No products

Standard derivatives exist mainly for currencies, interest rates and exchange-traded commodities. Industry-specific risks have no market of their own.

No measured exposure

Management knows by instinct what hurts, but has rarely calculated exactly what a 10% move in a given index costs the company.

Insurance doesn't fit

A policy needs damage, a claims process and proof of loss. A weak season isn't damage; it's just a worse result.

ballast/how-it-works

From financial data to a ready-made hedge in three steps.

  1. Step 1

    Exposure map

    Connect an export from your accounting system or upload your financial statements. An AI model compares your revenue and cost history with public indices and finds the ones that best explain swings in your margin. You get a list of risks, each with its impact in dollars.

  2. Step 2

    Hedge design

    For each material risk, we design a parametric contract: the index, the threshold, the payout and the cost. We show plainly how much risk the contract takes off and how much stays with the company. You choose the level of cover.

  3. Step 3

    Monitoring and settlement

    Once the contract is signed, the dashboard tracks the index and updates your map as your business changes. Settlement is automatic, based on official, independent data, with no claims adjuster and no need to prove a loss.

What is a parametric contract?

A contract that pays a fixed, pre-agreed amount when an objective index crosses a threshold. There is no damage to prove; only the data reading counts.

term.sheetexample
Index
Freight index
Threshold
Set in the contract
Payout
Fixed dollar amount

ballast/companies

Hedge what actually moves your results.

We're starting with industries whose results depend heavily on measurable, publicly reported indices.

Tourism and hotels
Cover for a weak season: contracts on overnight stays in the region or on rainy days at the height of the season.
Transport and logistics
Protect your margin from falling freight rates and fuel price spikes in a single, tailored basket.
Agriculture and food processing
Contracts on drought, temperature and crop price indices that protect both the grower and the processing plant.
Retail and services
Cover for falling foot traffic in shopping malls or falling retail sales in a given category.
Energy-intensive manufacturing
Protection from energy price peaks, matched to the plant's actual consumption profile.
Lenders and leasing
Protect a loan book in a given industry without selling the loans themselves: when the whole industry does worse, the contract pays out.
case.studyillustrative

A trucking company with its own fleet

Situation
The margin depends on the gap between the rate per mile and the price of diesel. In bad quarters, both numbers move the wrong way at the same time.
What Ballast shows
How much of the swing in results comes from the freight index and how much from the fuel price, and what it costs the company when both move against it at once.
Solution
One contract on the “carrier spread” that pays out when the gap between the rate and fuel falls below an agreed level. The company pays the premium upfront.

ballast/investors

A new class of risk that barely moves with the stock market.

Every hedge has another side. Funds, insurers and family offices can take on these risks for a premium, and seasonal weather or domestic freight rates rarely move with an equity index.

Diversified portfolios

We group individual contracts into baskets by industry, region and season, so investors are never exposed to a single company.

Familiar structures

Access through swaps or structured notes that fit within institutional investment mandates.

Full transparency

Every contract settles on public data, and investors see the same risk models as the hedging side.

ballast/business-model

Three revenue streams, one platform.

Exposure analytics

Monthly subscription

Risk map, scenarios and reports for the board and the bank. Valuable even before a company hedges anything, and a natural path to its first contract.

Structuring

Fee per contract

A margin on every hedge signed, and on the investor products on the other side.

Partner platform

License

Banks, insurance brokers and advisors can offer Ballast hedges to their own clients under their own brand.

ballast/roadmap

We start with insight and finish with a market.

  1. Stage 1

    Analytics

    The exposure map as a SaaS product for the first pilot companies in two industries.

  2. Stage 2

    First contracts

    Hedges signed with a licensed partner, a bank or an insurer, as the counterparty.

  3. Stage 3

    Investor products

    Risk baskets offered to funds as swaps and structured notes.

  4. Stage 4

    Platform and expansion

    Licensing the platform to partners and expanding into more U.S. states.

ballast/faq

Common questions

Is this speculation?

No. Every contract is matched to the company's real exposure, and we show how much risk it takes off. The goal is stable results, not winning a bet.

How is this different from insurance?

Insurance pays out once you prove a loss. A parametric contract pays out automatically when the index crosses the threshold, quickly and with no dispute over the size of the loss.

What if the index doesn't match my loss exactly?

That's called basis risk. Ballast measures it for every proposal and shows plainly how much of the risk stays with the company.

What data do I need to share?

To start, monthly historical revenue and costs are enough. Your data is encrypted, visible only to your company and never shared with investors.

Who is the counterparty?

At first, a licensed financial institution working with Ballast. Later, also institutions that use our platform.

ballast/contact

Find out what really moves your results.

Leave your details and we'll prepare a free preliminary exposure map based on your data.

request.formvia email