resiliencea SaaS-based analytics platform that helps companies assess their climate risks and plan their transition to carbon neutral has raised $26 million in a Series B funding round.
The increase comes as ESG (environmental, social, and [corporate] governance) startups across the spectrum have continued to raise money during the recession, with climate-focused companies in particular apparently doing well. According to data from Bloombergventure capital (VC) and private equity financing made its way to 539 deals in the third quarter of 2022, only marginally down from the 547 climate-related financing deals in the previous three months.
Separately, PwCs State of climate technology 2022 report found that more than a quarter of every VC dollar spent in 2022 was directed towards climate technology, totaling about $15-20 billion per quarter – a figure roughly comparable to the previous year.
There’s a good reason, of course, why climate technology may have been slightly more resilient to economic headwinds than other sectors. The global climate catastrophe is somewhere at the top of the agenda in many political and business spheres, with increasing pressure on companies to address their carbon emissions and do their part to mitigate their impact on climate change. And capturing the right kind of data and generating insights is central to this.
“Organizations are struggling to understand and quantify how climate risk impacts their business financially, and to plan their way to net zero,” Dr. Andrew Coburn, CEO of Rislience, explained to businessroundups.org. “As we move to a low-carbon economy, companies face near-term transition risks such as regulatory changes and climate-related litigation; and long-term physical hazards such as flooding and weather conditions.”
Digital twin
Risilience, in a nutshell, promises to enable companies to “turn data into actionable insights” and measure the (potential) impact of climate-related risks on their business. For example, the company has built “digital twin” technology that allows companies to connect their own internal systems and databases to visualize and “stress test” the impact of numerous “risks”. litigation and even evolving customer sentiment.
For example, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new rules that would require companies to report on any risks to their business related to climate change when filing updates for investors.
“Large organizations face many challenges when it comes to disclosing their environmental impact,” Dr. Andrew Coburn, CEO of Rislience, explains to businessroundups.org. “With the threat of greenwashing and increasing pressure from investors, reporting must be extremely accurate, but with increasing regulatory pressure on companies to disclose this information, they must act quickly.”
Ultimately, Risilience is about helping companies develop low-carbon operations while minimizing the impact on profitability while enabling them to report accurately to all stakeholders.
“Another common problem is that net-zero commitments are made without a detailed plan to get there,” Coburn added. “Risilience provides the critical insight needed in the crafting of this plan that is being updated based on the ever-changing landscape organizations face.”
Resilience in action Image credits: Risk
Shot at the University of Cambridge Center for Risk Studies (CCRS) back in 2021, Risilience says it has already garnered a number of high-profile corporate customers, including Nestlé, Maersk, EasyJet, Burberry and Tesco.
Previously, Risilience had raised £6 million ($7.4 million) in a Series A round back in 2021and with another $26 million in the bank, the company said it is using the new cash injection to drive international growth, with a particular focus on the US market.
Risilience’s Series B round was led by Quantum Innovation Fund, with the participation of IQ Capital and national network partners.
