Despite hints of delay, investors still seem enamored with the climate technology world. Just ask those of us who cover the industry here at TechCrunch+: our inboxes are constantly bombarded with funding announcements. Here’s a quick rundown of three that caught our eye.
ESG data management startup Novisto books $15 million Series B
Executives may be backing away from their companies’ ESG commitments, and conservatives may be agitating for a backlash, but a new round of funding suggests the principles are far from fading.
“The backlash we’ve seen is a symptom of ESG and sustainability in general going mainstream,” said Charles Assaf, co-founder and CEO of newan ESG data management startup.
As if to underscore the point, Novisto is announcing a $20 million Series B round on Wednesday, TechCrunch+ has learned exclusively. The round was led by Inovia Capital with participation from Portage Ventures, SCOR Ventures and existing investors White Star Capital and Diagram Ventures.
The company was founded in 2019 on the belief that companies will eventually develop ESG tech stacks, Assaf said, “and ESG data governance will be a core part of that.” Novisto has already won a number of major clients, including workflow management company Asana, financial services company Manulife and pharma giant Sanofi.
ESG data poses many challenges for companies. While some are structured, a large portion are not, ranging from easy-to-crunch numbers to more narrative qualitative data. Companies are finding they need ESG-specific solutions to comply with regulations, create reports and prepare for audits. The field, which is still relatively new, is changing rapidly, which means companies need to ensure that their ESG practices remain up-to-date.
But one of the biggest challenges Novisto’s customers have faced, Assaf said, has been creating the tools and frameworks to identify and collect the data. “Companies lack the right processes, the right system, the right management of data,” he said. The startup hopes that by giving companies the right boxes to fill, they start looking for the data they need to give ESG-hungry investors the information they need.
Kyoto Fusioneering provides Series C with $79 million to make parts for fusion startups
Commercial fusion power has never felt so close. It won’t happen next year or the year after, but many investors think it will be sooner rather than later. Even Microsoft made a bet by making a deal with Helion that would see the startup bring a factory online by 2028.
There are at least half a dozen other companies vying with Helion to supply fusion power to the power grid. Many of them develop a significant portion of their technology in-house, but Kyoto Fusion bet there are plenty of things that plasma-focused startups would rather not think about.
