Pathways raises $6M to automate manufacturers’ environmental reporting
Pathways, a New York-based AI platform that turns manufacturers’ operational data into environmental product documentation, has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Sorenson Capital, with participation from Pi Labs, Zacua Ventures, Blue Lion, Positive Ventures, and Great Wave, alongside strategic investors Titan Ventures and Heidelberg Materials.
The round brings Pathways’ total funding since its 2023 launch to $10 million, reflecting growing commercial demand for AI that can manage complex documentation across large industrial operations. Its largest contract, with Heidelberg Materials, is worth more than $1 million and spans manufacturing sites across North America, Europe, and Australia. The company will use the new funding to expand its capabilities across more materials and documentation requirements, and grow the team supporting manufacturers.
Pathways’ rapid growth reflects a shift in how building materials are bought. Cement and concrete alone account for roughly 8% of global CO2 emissions, making them among the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Approximately 75% of the urban infrastructure that will exist by mid-century has yet to be built. Buyers now want proof of what that material costs the planet, with state Buy Clean laws, the EU’s Construction Products Regulation, carbon border tariffs, and hyperscalers building AI data centres increasingly requiring it before a manufacturer can even bid.
Pathways is starting with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), independently verified documents reporting a product’s environmental impact. Manufacturers increasingly need these to compete for major construction and infrastructure contracts, but preparing the underlying data can involve months of work across production systems, utility bills, supplier invoices, and spreadsheets. Producing one has traditionally meant hiring a consultant, paying $20,000 or more per product and waiting six to 12 months.
The company uses AI agents to collect, read, and structure that information, supporting the life cycle assessments behind EPDs.
From factory data to verified documentation
Rather than asking manufacturers to adopt new software or standardise their data before they can get value, Pathways’ agentic platform is built to meet plants where they already are. It connects directly into the systems that already hold the underlying data, whether that’s a quality control system, a utility provider, or a finance tool, and its AI agents read and structure the rest: PDFs of electricity bills, scanned supplier invoices, spreadsheets.
Beyond producing documentation, the platform helps manufacturers identify which materials and processes drive their emissions, benchmark performance, and model alternative inputs before making changes to production.
Crete Solutions illustrates how the platform can support a growing producer. The ready-mix producer recently grew to 18 plant locations across the Carolinas through acquisition. Pathways brought five plants and a new Stonemont integration live in nine days, enabling staff to access EPDs through their existing quality control software.
“We assumed doing all the EPD work ourselves was just the industry norm … until Pathways finished data modelling in days that had previously taken us weeks,” said David Draper, VP of Technology at Crete Solutions. “Now it’s a button in Stonemont. Any QC or salesperson can attach an EPD to a submittal without thinking about it.”
Industrial investors become deployment partners
Heidelberg Materials and Titan aren’t just investors; both have put Pathways to work inside their own operations. Heidelberg, which runs nearly 3,000 production sites in more than 50 countries, is deploying the platform across three continents: plant managers now review and approve environmental data instead of rebuilding it by hand, replacing a process that used to run separately at every plant. Titan, whose venture arm also participated in the round, is deploying Pathways across its own operations in North America as well. Leise Sandeman, CEO & Co-founder of Pathways, said: “We believe industry partners are part of what differentiates us, and ensures we’re always putting the customer at the centre”
Beyond EPDs
Pathways plans to extend its underlying data infrastructure into additional workflows, including Digital Product Passport, construction product regulations and PCFs. Leise Sandeman, CEO & Co-founder of Pathways, said: “We’re bringing an agentic approach to certification and auditability to an industry that’s been asked to prove more than ever, with fewer people trained to do it. The pressure on our customers isn’t going away. It’s compounding, as the rules multiply across every geography they sell into. Our job is to make sure that keeping up with that pressure doesn’t have to mean drowning in paperwork.”
Faisal Butt, Managing Partner and Founder of Pi Labs, said: “We first backed Pathways in 2024 because we believed AI could transform how manufacturers measure and report the environmental footprint of what they produce. Since then, the team has made impressive progress, turning processes that once took months into days and building a product with clear commercial value for manufacturers. We’re excited to double down and support Pathways as they scale.”
