By Juliette Portala
(Reuters) – Software platform Datamaran said on Tuesday it had closed a 11.7 million pounds ($13.3 million) financing led by Fortive amid growing demand from companies and financial institutions to assess environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.
Led by industrial products maker Fortive and with the participation of American Electric Power (AEP), the Series B funding round will be used to grow the company’s team in the United States and meet an expanding ESG insights market.
PepsiCo, Walgreens and Dell also took part in the round, the group said in a statement.
Datamaran’s technology identifies over 400 external risk factors that could impact a company’s value, including those related to technological innovation and geopolitical issues, by scanning regulatory, media and corporate disclosures.
Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Marjella Lecourt-Alma said the new financing would help the firm speed up its expansion into more corporate boardrooms, which currently account for more than 40% of its revenues.
“Coming from strategic partners and clients, this funding is a ringing endorsement of Datamaran’s benefits,” she added.
Flows into ESG funds have surged in recent years, as governments seek to push more money to activities that can help them meet their net-zero emissions goals – among others. Against this backdrop, regulators are starting to introduce mandatory sustainability disclosures for both companies and funds.
Some businesses, however, have been accused by activists of “greenwashing”, with splashy announcements of programmes that do little if anything to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.
“The ability to gain deeper insights into ESG and how it affects our business is increasingly important,” Sandy Nessing, AEP’s chief sustainability officer, said as she pointed to a “constantly evolving” ESG landscape.
($1 = 0.8797 pounds)
(Reporting by Juliette Portala Editing by Simon Jessop and Mark Potter)
