Luxembourg-based SustainCERT, a digital platform for verification of carbon emissions and an official certification body for Gold Standard for the Global Goals, announced that it has raised $10M (approx €8.6M) in a fresh round of funding.
The round was led by impact investment fund Citizen Capital and venture capital firm Innovacom. They were joined by the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund.
SustainCERT had spun-off from the Gold Standard Foundation in 2018 and raised Seed funds from the Gold Standard Foundation, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Impact Ventures, Blue Orchard, and 1to4 Foundation, all of whom now have an ownership stake in the company.
Capital utilisation
The proceeds from this round will help SustainCERT to support the next phase of growth. The company will invest in its technologies with major enhancements expected to the digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) application to unlock the real-time issuance of carbon offsets.
Currently, SustainCERT is in the development stage of an emissions factor software that helps accurately account, allocate and report Scope 3 emissions among value chain players. The company said that a prototype is expected to be unveiled later this year along with new infrastructure for SustainCERT’s digital MRV platform.
Besides, the funds will also be invested in research and innovation, the Value Change Initiative, and to strengthen the company’s position in the market as the provider of best practice solutions in carbon markets and corporate value chains.
What does SustainCERT offer?
SustainCERT was created in 2018 with an ambition to mainstream credible climate and SDG impact accounting and certification. To accelerate progress towards the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, the company uses technology to inspire environmental impact claims.
CEO Marion Verles says, “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.”
The company helps project developers and corporates quantify and verify carbon emissions accurately and certify carbon credits and corporate claims with international frameworks such as Gold Standard for the Global Goals, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
SustainCERT claims its software simplifies processes for data collection, calculation and verification, reimagining a future where issuance of carbon credits and other impact claims becomes scalable. As of now, it has supported over 1200 projects spanning across energy, land-use, waste and community services sectors.
Currently, the company operates with teams across Europe, South and North America, Asia, and Australia and is led by CEO Marion Verles, who brings over 15 years of carbon market experience. Marion also served as former CEO of The Gold Standard Foundation.
SustainCERT has also expanded into value chain emissions where it 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. This initiative has over 60 organisations, 8 sectors and more than 130 technical representatives and partners participating since 2018.
