SustainCERT Raises $10 Million
Luxembourg, October 28th, 2021
SustainCERT SA ("SustainCERT", or "the Company"), the leading digital platform for verification of carbon emissions and an official certification body for Gold Standard for the Global Goals, announces today the completion of an ambitious $10 Million capital raise.
The round was led by impact investment fund Citizen Capital and venture capital firm Innovacom, joined by the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. Prior to this round, SustainCERT had spun-off from the Gold Standard Foundation in 2018, raising seed capital from the Gold Standard Foundation, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Impact Ventures, Blue Orchard and 1to4 Foundation, who maintain an ownership stake in the Company.
With growing international momentum towards reaching Net-Zero targets, emission reduction commitments are proliferating across governments and corporates, creating a pressing need to mitigate greenwashing through innovative and robust impact verification solutions. Driven by the mission to accelerate progress towards the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, SustainCERT uses technology to inspire a Race to the Top in the market for environmental impact claims. SustainCERT's carbon emissions accounting and verification software simplifies processes for data collection, calculation and verification, reimagining a future where issuance of carbon credits and other impact claims becomes scalable with integrity.
SustainCERT's digital carbon project application (SustainCERT App) launched in 2018 has successfully supported over 1200 projects spanning across energy, land-use, waste and community services sectors, simplifying the process to certify carbon offset projects under Gold Standard for the Global Goals.
SustainCERT’s vertically integrated business has successfully expanded into value chain emissions where the Company is one of the founding partners of the Value Change Initiative - a pre-competitive collaboration platform for corporates and civil society to co-develop and implement value chain emissions accounting rules. The initiative has grown to over 60 organisations, 8 sectors and more than 130 technical representatives and partners participating since 2018.
Impressive early-stage success and growing demand for SustainCERT's services provide clear insight into the potential for SustainCERT to gain significant market share in the rapidly growing market for carbon emissions verification.
Funds from this capital increase will support the next phase of growth, seeing further investments in the Company's technologies with major enhancements expected to the digital monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) application to unlock near real-time issuance of carbon offsets. SustainCERT is currently in the development stage of an emissions factor software that helps accurately account, allocate and report Scope 3 emissions among value chain players. A prototype is expected to be unveiled later this year along with new infrastructure for SustainCERT's digital MRV platform. Further investments will also take place in research and innovation, the Value Change Initiative, and to strengthen the company’s position as the leading provider of best practice solutions in carbon markets and corporate value chains.
The rise in climate commitments signals a turning point in global awareness on the need to curb emissions to Net-Zero. Without credible solutions to verify that those impacts claimed are real, we will fail. SustainCERT’s role is to bring transparency and credibility to the many efforts taken to achieve Net-Zero. I am deeply honoured to have Citizen Capital, Innovacom and Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund join SustainCERT on our journey to drive a Race to the Top in carbon emissions accounting and verification.
Marion Verles, CEO, SustainCERT
SustainCERT’s tech-driven approach to measurement, reporting and verification of climate impact claims is poised to transform the market for carbon credits. Corporates and other buyers in the market today can feel more confident in their purchases with SustainCERT's certification process to meet the Gold Standard requirements for credible claims.
Brandon Middaugh, Director, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund
Citizen Capital is very excited to partner with SustainCERT and support its ambition to foster more ambitious climate action through reliable and scalable carbon impact measurement. We are especially proud to back a team with such unmatched experience in carbon markets and a long-standing commitment to fighting climate change.
Jonathan Piquet, Director, Citizen Capital’s growth fund.
We have been impressed by the quality of SustainCERT’s team and expertise. Carbon markets require trust and transparency which is precisely what SustainCERT has to offer. The technology being developed to accelerate adoption of impact monitoring and reporting has the potential to become a key enabling technology for numerous applications that require reliable frameworks and data to work on.
Benjamin Wainstain, Partner, Innovacom
AltRaise, a sustainability focused independent financial advisory firm, acted as exclusive financial advisor to SustainCERT on this transaction.
SustainCERT operates globally with teams across Europe, South and North America, Asia, and Australia. The company embraces diversity across the team with an executive team of industry leading experts, notably led by Chief Executive Officer, Marion Verles, who brings over 15 years of carbon market experience, and served as former CEO of The Gold Standard Foundation.