The pre-seed funding round for the London-based startup was led by MSM, Market One Capital, D2 Fund.
London, March 29th, 2022 – Connect Earth, an environmental data company based out of London, building the infrastructure for climate-conscious products, has closed its first funding round, raising $1.8 million (£1.34m) to increase its data offering across Europe and the US.
Connect Earth, founded by Alexander Lempka and Nicolas Carmont in September 2021, during the Entrepreneur First programme, consolidates and harmonises sustainability data and makes it available through APIs and toolkits. “Our fundamental belief is that by 2030, every product will be a climate product. At Connect Earth, we are building the infrastructure and toolkits to support this development, starting in the financial sector. We are excited to scale our solution alongside our fantastic team and investors”, begins Alexander Lempka, co-founder and CEO at Connect Earth.
Connect Earth already serves its first product, an API solution that calculates the carbon impact of consumers and companies based on their spending in line with carbon accounting standards, to banks and fintechs globally. Traction to date includes running a PoC with the Elevator Lab Partnership Program powered by Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and working with US-based challenger bank Cogni to engage their GenZ audience.
Connect Earth also serves ClimateTech businesses with their climate data engine, enriching company, supplier, and product data with carbon insights at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional data providers. Currently, these businesses can request early access to their climate engine APIs on Connect Earth website.
“We have a real opportunity here to build tools that will help financial institutions and ClimateTechs to easily embed sustainability insights into their products. The climate data space is very difficult to navigate without deep expertise and we want to make developing climate features much easier for businesses who want to have an impact”, complements Nicolas Carmont, co-founder and CTO.
The main investors in the round were MSM (Mustard Seed MAZE), Market One Capital, D2, Plug and Play, Entrepreneur First and Venista Ventures, alongside strategic angel investors.
Henry Wigan, Managing Partner at MSM, an impact fund with a strong track record in investing in environmental businesses, noted “Connect Earth is critical in ensuring we have the infrastructure to help businesses embed sustainability data into their products. We believe that this infrastructure is the missing piece to allow for better climate decisions. We are excited and thankful to be partnering with Connect Earth on their journey ahead”.
The capital raised in this investment round will allow Connect Earth to gain traction and expand its data offering across Europe and the US. The team has since increased to 10 employees and will grow to 15 by Q3 2022.
Reach out if you think Connect Earth can help your business.
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About Connect Earth:
Founded in 2021, Connect Earth is a London-based environmental data company that democratises easy access to sustainability data. With its carbon tracking API technology, Connect Earth is on a mission to empower consumers and SMEs to make sustainable choices and bridge the gap between intent, knowledge and action. Connect Earth supports financial institutions in offering their customers transparent insight into the climate impact of their spending.
About MSM:
MSM (Mustard Seed MAZE) is an impact Venture Capital fund that invests in the great businesses of the future, those that solve social and environmental challenges. MSM targets fast-growing European ventures with global lock-step potential where impact and financial returns are mutually reinforcing. In addition, MSM provides tailored support throughout their journey of growth. Based in Lisbon and London, MSM has invested in European-based startups such as Kitch (PT) – already acquired by Glovo -, Student Finance (SP), Ohne (PT) and Omocom (SE).
About Market One Capital:
Market One Capital (MOC) is an early-stage VC fund investing in marketplaces and digital platforms across Europe. MOC team consists of ex-entrepreneurs and experienced investors, who founded 4 marketplaces themselves and have a combined experience of investing into more than 60 of them, including Tier Mobility, Docplanner, Brainly and Packhelp. Thanks to the experience of the team and their close and vast network of 250+ individuals, MOC portfolio companies can expect founders oriented approach, close cooperation and valuable support.
About D2:
D2 is a new European early-stage venture fund that invests in lean start-ups with real business models. We look for entrepreneurs that want to build both scalable but also durable and profitable companies. D2 aims to maximise the ownership and optionality of the founders we back by providing both equity and non-dilutive capital. We’re hands on investors that support our founders throughout the full life-cycle of their company.
