It has developed the first software platform that enables companies to track emissions in real time, not only throughout their own business but also across suppliers, allowing them to quickly identify carbon hotspots and plan cost effective strategies to drive rapid reductions.

Growing numbers of companies are setting ambitious targets to reduce emissions in the face of pressure from customers, investors and governments to support the Paris Agreement and align their business models with a low-carbon world. It also makes sound business sense as governments increasingly seek to reduce emissions by putting a price on carbon - 40 countries now use carbon pricing mechanisms and more are planning to implement them, according to the World Bank.

Sarah Cone, Founder and Managing Partner at venture capital firm Social Impact Capital, said: “Companies with zero carbon goals are already getting ahead and reaping the rewards, and soon every company will do carbon accounting like they do financial accounting. We spent two years conducting intensive due diligence in the carbon accounting space, and without a doubt, Emitwise is the best solution.”

London-based, Emitwise conducted hundreds of interviews with sustainability teams to design a platform that meets the challenges they face today. It is easy to set up and use, and is unique in using artificial intelligence to fully automate carbon accounting and reporting across companies’ own operations and supply chain.

Carbon accounting is typically a labour-intensive process, focussed on pulling together retrospective data for annual reporting requirements. The Emitwise platform liberates and empowers sustainability teams, giving them the time and tools to drive effective carbon-cutting strategies.

It enables them to monitor emissions from day to day, making it easy to focus on product lines, teams and facilities, and it provides the analysis that allows them to compare the cost and effectiveness of different strategies to cut carbon and make swift decisions.

However, most companies’ own direct emissions are dwarfed by emissions in their supply chain, which are 5.5 times greater on average. Emitwise allows companies to benchmark suppliers’ performance, engage them on carbon reductions, and monitor their progress. 

Emitwise enables companies to get a swift understanding of their current performance and identify easy, high impact wins, because its automated approach to data processing means it can be set up and deliver results at least twice as fast as using the traditional manual or consulting approach. 

The funding round was led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm True Ventures. Investors include Ryan Graves, former CEO at Uber, through his Saltwater Capital fund; Ashby Monk, executive and research director of the Stanford Global Projects Center; and Social Impact Capital. 

Priscilla Tyler, Senior Associate with True Ventures, said: “The Emitwise team has a deep understanding of where a big impact can be made. By empowering companies to proactively track the environmental costs of their businesses, they can take real action in reducing their emissions.” 

Emitwise combines innovation in carbon accounting with expertise in data pipelines and artificial intelligence. It has recruited carbon accountants from Trucost and Ecoinvent, environmental data providers with a global reputation, and other key hires have come from Deliveroo, Google and Improbable. It will use the new funding to grow its team and expand its service to customers. 

Emitwise Co-founder and CEO Mauro Cozzi said: “We started Emitwise to fight climate change. Companies can make a massive difference by setting ambitious targets to cut emissions in their business and supply chain. We want to help them support the transition to a low-carbon world by making it easy to plan and implement cost-effective strategies that combine sustainability with profitability.”