SustainCERT completes $10 Million Capital Raise to Drive a #RacetotheTop in Carbon Emissions Accounting and Verification

LUXEMBOURG, Oct. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SustainCERT SA ("SustainCERT", or "the Company"), the leading digital platform for verification of carbon emissions and an official certification body for Gold Standard for the Global Goals, announces today the completion of an ambitious $10 Million capital raise.

The round was led by impact investment fund Citizen Capital and venture capital firm Innovacom, joined by the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. Prior to this round, SustainCERT had spun-off from the Gold Standard Foundation in 2018, raising seed capital from the Gold Standard Foundation, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Impact Ventures, Blue Orchard and 1to4 Foundation, who maintain an ownership stake in the Company.

With growing international momentum towards reaching Net-Zero targets, emission reduction commitments are proliferating across governments and corporates, creating a pressing need to mitigate greenwashing through innovative and robust impact verification solutions. Driven by the mission to accelerate progress towards the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, SustainCERT uses technology to inspire a Race to the Top in the market for environmental impact claims. SustainCERT's carbon emissions accounting and verification software simplifies processes for data collection, calculation and verification, reimagining a future where issuance of carbon credits and other impact claims becomes scalable with integrity.

SustainCERT's digital carbon project application (SustainCERT App) launched in 2018 has successfully supported over 1200 projects spanning across energy, land-use, waste and community services sectors, simplifying the process to certify carbon offset projects under Gold Standard for the Global Goals.

SustainCERT's vertically integrated business has successfully expanded into value chain emissions where the Company is one of the founding partners of the Value Change Initiative - a pre-competitive collaboration platform for corporates and civil society to co-develop and implement value chain emissions accounting rules. The initiative has grown to over 60 organisations, 8 sectors and more than 130 technical representatives and partners participating since 2018.

Impressive early-stage success and growing demand for SustainCERT's services provide clear insight into the potential for SustainCERT to gain significant market share in the rapidly growing market for carbon emissions verification.

Funds from this capital increase will support the next phase of growth, seeing further investments in the Company's technologies with major enhancements expected to the digital monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) application to unlock near real-time issuance of carbon offsets. SustainCERT is currently in the development stage of an emissions factor software that helps accurately account, allocate and report Scope 3 emissions among value chain players. A prototype is expected to be unveiled later this year along with new infrastructure for SustainCERT's digital MRV platform. Further investments will also take place in research and innovation, the Value Change Initiative, and to strengthen the company's position as the leading provider of best practice solutions in carbon markets and corporate value chains. 

"The rise in climate commitments signals a turning point in global awareness on the need to curb emissions to Net-Zero. Without credible solutions to verify that those impacts claimed are real, we will fail. SustainCERT's role is to bring transparency and credibility to the many efforts taken to achieve Net-Zero." said SustainCERT CEO, Marion Verles. "I am deeply honoured to have Citizen Capital, Innovacom and Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund join SustainCERT on our journey to drive a Race to the Top in carbon emissions accounting and verification."

"SustainCERT's tech-driven approach to measurement, reporting and verification of climate impact claims is poised to transform the market for carbon credits." said Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund Director Brandon Middaugh. "Corporates and other buyers in the market today can feel more confident in their purchases with SustainCERT's certification process to meet the Gold Standard requirements for credible claims."

"Citizen Capital is very excited to partner with SustainCERT and support its ambition to foster more ambitious climate action through reliable and scalable carbon impact measurement." commented Jonathan Piquet, director of Citizen Capital's growth fund. "We are especially proud to back a team with such  unmatched experience in carbon markets and a long-standing commitment to fighting climate change."

"We have been impressed by the quality of SustainCERT's team and expertise. Carbon markets require trust and transparency which is precisely what SustainCERT has to offer." said Innovacom's Benjamin Wainstain. "The technology being developed to accelerate adoption of impact monitoring and reporting has the potential to become a key enabling technology for numerous applications that require reliable frameworks and data to work on."

AltRaise, a sustainability focused independent financial advisory firm, acted as exclusive financial advisor to SustainCERT on this transaction.

SustainCERT operates globally with teams across Europe, South and North America, Asia, and Australia. The company embraces diversity across the team with an executive team of industry leading experts, notably led by Chief Executive Officer, Marion Verles, who brings over 15 years of carbon market experience, and served as former CEO of The Gold Standard Foundation.

About SustainCERT

SustainCERT is the leading global carbon emissions accounting and verification platform for carbon markets and corporate value chains. By using technology to simplify processes, SustainCERT helps project developers and corporates quantify and verify carbon emissions accurately and certify carbon credits and corporate claims in line with leading international frameworks such as Gold Standard for the Global Goals, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Sustainable Development Goals. SustainCERT leverages technology to mainstream best-practice impact verification thereby accelerating progress towards the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.

To learn more visit:
www.sustain-cert.com | @Sustain_CERT

About Citizen Capital

Founded in 2008, Citizen Capital is a pioneer and leading European impact investing fund. Citizen Capital mobilizes funds to back high growth companies that build innovative solutions addressing major social and environmental issues. Citizen Capital is an independent company authorized by French market authority AMF managing various investment vehicles dedicated to early stage, growth and expansion capital investments in European start-ups and SMEs, and a thematic fund for agriculture.

Citizen Capital's portfolio includes some of the most iconic French mission-driven companies, such as OpenClassrooms, Ulule, Deepki, Certideal, or Ipso Santé.

Citizen Capital is the first B-Corp certified fund in France and has adopted the French legal framework of "société à mission". It is a founding member of the "Communauté des Entreprises à Mission", the reference body of the purpose-driven companies movement in France.

To learn more visit:
www.citizencapital.fr | @Citizencapital

About Innovacom
Since 1988, Innovacom has invested close to one billion euros, supported more than 300 digital startups, participated in more than 20 Initial Public Offerings and completed 150 industrial disposals. Innovacom has contributed to several recent successes in a diverse range of sectors: electric vehicles (G²mobility), ad tech (Videoplazza), medical imaging (Olea Medical), digital customer relations (Dimelo), connectivity in trains (21Net Ltd), materials for energy transition (Exagan) or components for smartphones with the Heptagon unicorn.

Innovacom is currently supporting high-potential companies such as Acklio, Antaïos, Aryballe Technologies, Aura Aero, Avicenna.ai, CAILabs, Cozy Cloud, Exotrail, Intersec, Iten, MicroEJ, Matrixx Software, OSO AI, Robart, Upciti or Scintil Photonics.

Its recent association with the Turenne Group, one of France's leading independent private equity firms, has resulted in a €1,2 billion platform under management. Present in Paris and Marseille, Innovacom is a company certified by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.

www.innovacom.com // @innovacomvc

Media inquiries:
SustainCERT SA
Paris Golab, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Tel: +49 159 0 634 6257
E-mail: communications@sustain-cert.com

Forward-Looking Statements 

This news release contains or refers to certain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information can often be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "may", "potential" and "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. All information other than information regarding historical fact, which addresses activities, events or developments that SustainCERT SA ("SustainCERT" or the "Company") believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, is forward looking information. Forward-looking information does not constitute historical fact but reflects the current expectations the Company regarding future results or events based on information that is currently available. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking information will not occur. Such forward-looking information in this release speak only as of the date hereof.