Climate startup Altrustiq bags £15m as investors hunt for greenwashing solution
London-based climate tech firm Altruistiq has bagged £15m in seed funding today as investors bet on ‘carbon accounting’ as a solution to the rise of greenwashing.
The fresh funding round for Altruistiq, which allows firms to track their carbon footprint across their supply chain, was led by London-listed venture vehicle Molten Ventures.
Boss of Altruistiq Saif Hameed said firms were moving to better grasp their carbon footprint which had provided a boost to the Altruistiq.
“In recent weeks, we’ve seen a big shift to embrace the ‘carbon accounting’ space. It’s a helpful tailwind, but the use of high-level calculations and generic emissions factors leaves organisations open to charges of greenwashing,” he said today.
“We’re seeing this create a real erosion of credibility for even very well-intentioned brands.”
Investors and firms are looking for ways to better gauge climate impact and carbon footprint amid rising regulatory scrutiny of greenwashing and the misuse of the ‘environmental, social and governance’ (ESG) label.
Molten’s head of climate George Chalmers said there was an “increasing need and demand” for the technology.
The investment from London-listed Molten comes after chief Martin Davis told City PM in June that investment would likely halve in the next 12 months as the venture environment cools amid soaring inflation and rising interest rates.
“We need to be much more confident in an environment like this – there will still be good investments so we’ll probably still invest in the £100-150m mark this year, roughly half what we did last year,” he said as last month.