Global decarbonisation will be possible only if nine system-level needs, including physical building blocks, economic and societal changes, and governance, institutions, and commitment, are realised.
Meanwhile, companies attempting to minimise their carbon footprint in order to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 confront a significant challenge in establishing which of their operations pollute the most and to what extent.
UK’s CarbonChain provides a novel solution to this problem by utilising granular data and AI-based accounting. The finished solution enables organisations to precisely measure and report carbon emissions at all levels of the operational supply chain.
The London-based startup has raised a $10M Series A funding round, co-led by Union Square Ventures and Voyager Ventures.
New carbon accounting tools
The funds will be used to develop new carbon accounting and reporting tools, expand its customer base in the most carbon-intensive value chains (manufacturing, commodities, and heavy industry), and expand the company’s team.
“CarbonChain helps climate-critical sectors take action by filling the data gap for supply chain emissions tracking with accuracy and granularity,” said Adam Hearne, CarbonChain CEO and co-founder. “Our latest investment round kicks off a big year for CarbonChain: we are hiring for 30 new roles, and opening a New York office to better support the North American market. We are excited to expand our customer base and help move the global economy closer to net zero.”
The company uses data from the point of resource extraction, from raw materials, through the point of consumption, to produce emissions knowledge across the whole supply chain. CarbonChain offers carbon traceability, product carbon footprinting, and the identification of real-time reduction potential.
CarbonChain, founded in 2019 by Adam Hearne and Roheet Shah, empowers businesses to make climate-conscious decisions in order to accelerate progress towards a net-zero economy. Its artificial intelligence-powered carbon accounting technology automates emissions tracking with accurate, granular asset-level data for carbon-intensive supply chains such as metals, mining, and manufacturing. Its approach V0.94 has been validated by SGS and verified by Bureau Veritas to provide unparalleled insight into carbon-related risks and possibilities in near real-time for manufacturers, commodity dealers, financiers, and freight corporations.
Customers include thyssenkrupp Materials Services Eastern Europe, Societe Generale, Rabobank, Concord Resources, IXM, and Gunvor.
“CarbonChain has a team of passionate, expert engineers, data scientists, and sales leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s largest sources of GHG emissions,” said Rebecca Kaden, Union Square Ventures General Partner. “Their carbon accounting platform is becoming the go-to solution for leading companies in the commodities, metals manufacturing, trade finance, and logistics industries. We’re excited to have co-led this investment round enabling CarbonChain to continue expanding its customer base through these critical supply chains.”
“Integrating GHG transparency into the supply chains of thyssenkrupp is critical,” said Jörg Heiles, CEO Operating Unit Materials, thyssenkrupp Materials Services Eastern Europe. “By joining forces with suppliers like mills and using CarbonChain’s leading technical solution, the industry can start to build high fidelity emissions transparency, so that decarbonization decisions can be made at the supplier, product, and company levels. Engaging with our suppliers will help us prepare our supply chains for reporting and carbon pricing regulation, develop meaningful climate goals, and support our ongoing policy engagement.”
“The climate emergency is paramount for many of the Bank’s global trade commodity clients, helping them address these challenges is, therefore, one of our main priorities,” said Deia Markova, Head of Trade and Sustainable Commodity Finance and Sustainability Ambassador at Societe Generale in Switzerland. “In this respect, our partnership with CarbonChain further contributes to our clients’ decarbonization journey, in a very pragmatic and innovative way using technology, and to Societe Generale’s strong commitments to positive transformations of the world.”
