A Running Timeline of Sustainability/ESG Investments and M&A

Image: Gucci

A Running Timeline of Sustainability/ESG Investments and M&A

A growing number of investment rounds are bringing sustainability-centric endeavors and more often than not, sustainability-focused tech, to the fore, as consumers and shareholders, alike, continue to focus on the sizable role that retail (including fashion industry) plays in ...

March 4, 2024 - By TFL

A Running Timeline of Sustainability/ESG Investments and M&A

Image : Gucci

Case Documentation

A Running Timeline of Sustainability/ESG Investments and M&A

A growing number of investment rounds are bringing sustainability-centric endeavors and more often than not, sustainability-focused tech, to the fore, as consumers and shareholders, alike, continue to focus on the sizable role that retail (including fashion industry) plays in the larger climate crisis. With rising consumer awareness and resulting demands for action and transparency on this front, investors increasingly taking environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors into account when making decisions, and lawmakers across the globe pushing for climate-centric legislation in light of rampant greenwashing, we have compiled a (running) timeline of funding and M&A to provide a broad overview of sustainable investments in fashion and the broader retail space, and shed light on what the trajectory of this segment of the market looks like more generally …

Mar. 4, 2024 – eComID Raises €2.75M in Pre-Seed Round

eComID has raised €2.75M in a Pre-Seed round led by CapitalT with support from follow-on investment from H&M Group Ventures, and strategic angel investors, including LEGO Group VP and former Zalando director Anaheta Berenberg-Consbruch, Vice President at the LEGO Group and former Director at Zalando and former H&M Managing Director Madeleine Persson. The Stockholm-based climate tech startup, which aims to “empower global online retailers to reduce online product returns, shrink the environmental footprint, and guide shoppers to discover and buy products they’ll truly love,” will use the new funds to “expand [its] platform capabilities and extend its previously invitation-only solution to a broader range of brands.”

Feb. 23, 2024 – BlockTexx Raises $4.6M in Series B

BlockTexx has raised AU$7 million ($4.57 million) in a Series B round from fashion innovation platform Fashion for Good, Artesian, and seed investors Mike and Sue Gregg. Co-founder Graham Ross said the Australian textile recycling company will use the new funds “to accelerate our ability to meet the market demands for our remanufactured products – PolyTexx and CellTexx, and to take our end of life textile solution to the world.” 

Feb. 22, 2024 – Hakio Raises €4M in Seed Round

Hakio has raised €4 million in a Seed round co-led by People Ventures and Dreamcraft Ventures and joined by existing investors Blazar Capital and Founderment. The Danish SaaS company, which helps fashion and apparel companies to make more accurate predictions about their future sales to optimize inventory levels, will use the new funds to further develop and expand its platform. Hakio says that it “leverages machine learning algorithms to enhance forecasting accuracy and tackle the global waste issue in the fashion industry. “By removing bias when creating a baseline forecast and subsequently including expert knowledge in a sleek and user-friendly platform, fashion brands can increase planning accuracy and reduce operational costs and working capital. This means companies can free up funds to use elsewhere,” said Hakio co-founder and CEO Malte Bjerg Vittrup.

Feb. 21, 2024 – Climate Policy Radar Raises $6.8M in New Round

Climate Policy Radar has raised over $6.8 million in a new funding round from the the Environmental Defense Fund, Google.org, Open Society Foundations, The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Sequoia Climate Foundation, Schmidt Futures and Quadrature Climate Foundation. The London-based startup uses data science and machine learning to analyze climate change policies and laws on a global scale. It will use the new funds to expand its scope of available data by adding more documents, including sub-national policies, climate-related litigation cases and corporate disclosures.

Feb. 1, 2024 – Watershed Raises $100M in Series C

Watershed has raised $100 million in a Series C funding round was led by Greenoaks with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil, Emerson Collective, and Galvanize Climate Solutions. The round brings the San Francisco, CA-based enterprise sustainability platform provider’s valuation to $1.8 billion valuation. Founded in 2019, Watershed provides enterprise climate platform that combines climate data and climate action for large companies – like Walmart, Skims, General Mills, BalckRock, Paramount, etc. – to measure, report, and reduce their carbon emissions. Co-founder Taylor Francis said, “Corporate climate action is accelerating. Companies of all sizes and sectors are making sustainability a board-level priority, and we are supporting them as they work to measure, report, and reduce their emissions. This new investment will bolster our mission to accelerate the climate economy.”

Jan. 18, 2024 – TrusTace Raises $24M in Series B

Supply chain traceability platform TrusTrace has raised $24 million in a Series B round led by Circularity Capital with participation from with participation from existing investors Industrifonden and Fairpoint Capital. The Stockholm, Sweden-based company, which focuses on the fashion industry, offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for supply chain traceability and compliance, enabling brands and suppliers to standardize how supply chain and material traceability data is captured, digitized, and shared. TrusTrace co-founder and CEO Shameek Ghosh said, “A growing number of fashion and textile brands are adopting supply chain traceability to support their sustainability goals and ensure competitiveness in the face of mounting regulatory and consumer pressure.”

Jan. 16, 2024 – ZymoChem Raises $24M in Series B

ZymoChem has raised $21 million in a Series A round led by Breakout Ventures with participation from new investors, including lululemon athletica inc. and Toyota Ventures, and existing investors, such as GS Futures, KdT Ventures, and Cavallo Ventures. creator of a carbon-efficient bio-manufacturing platform. The San Leandro, California-based company, which uses proprietary carbon conserving  microbes to convert renewable feedstocks into bio-based materials, will use the new funds to launch its first high-performance material and advance its first partnered product to commercial scale. CEO Harshal Chokhawala said in a statement, “Our technology delivers sustainability without compromising performance, scale, and importantly economics. This unlock already catalyzed multiple partnerships with world-leading companies and we’re thrilled to expand our impact with our key stakeholders.“

Jan. 10, 2024 – Qorium Raises Additional Funds in New Round

Qorium has secured investment from breakthrough VC’s Brightlands Venture Partners and Sofinnova Partners in a new round that it says “marks a significant vote of confidence in the future of sustainable, cell cultured leather production.” In addition to the funding, which will enable it to further its “journey towards commercial scale,” the Maastricht, Netherlands-based cell-cultured leather company announced the appointment of Michael Newton, a former Nike senior executive, as Chief Executive Officer. Newton said in a statement, “My years at Nike were all about innovating product to unleash human potential; I’m thrilled to be taking this next logical step, where incredible science can deliver a truly sustainable future through high quality, excellent products that consumers covet.”

Jan. 9, 2024 – Mogu Sri Raises €11M in Series A

Mogu Srl d/b/a Sqim has raised 11 million euros in a Series A round led by CDP Venture Capital and co-led by ECBF VC, with participation from Kering Ventures and from existing shareholder Progress Tech Transfer. The Italian biotech company, which specializes in biofabricated materials made from pure mushroom root mycelium, will use the new funds to scales its “innovative technologies and to develop its Ephea and Mogu product lines.” Stefano Babbini, chief executive and co-founder of Mogu, said in a statement: “I’m extremely proud of what we just achieved. Sqim’s team has been working very hard in the last years with the mission of proving that innovation, sustainability, and industrialization can not only coexist but even offer an added value to different industries whether properly cooked.”


This is a short excerpt from a data set that is published exclusively for TFL Enterprise subscribers. For access to our up-to-date investments and M&A tracker, inquire today about how to sign up for an Enterprise subscription.

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