Government-backed ESG reporting platform put up for sale as firms backtrack on eco-goals

An ESG reporting platform backed by the government-owned British Business Bank has been put up for sale after appointing administrators, City PM can reveal, in the latest sign blue-chip companies are paring back their sustainability commitments.

World Wide Generation, which operates the platform, known as G17 Eco, has opened the bidding to interested parties and those expressing interest following a listing on an insolvency marketplace.

The London-based company, which was once valued at more than £90m in an equity funding round and counts the likes of HSBC, Unilever and AWS among its customers, is understood to be trading in administration with support from key shareholders.

Challenges facing the company’s finances come as a host of big-name businesses water down or renege on previous ESG targets and disclosures amid a greater focus on profitability and shareholder return.

Last month, FTSE 100 fashion retailer Burberry took the decision to delay its target to become ‘climate positive’ from 2040 to 2050 after reassessing the business case for its previous goal, while oil majors Shell and BP have both watered down or adjusted their own Covid-era emissions targets, replacing them with slower transition timelines.

In 2024, ESG posterchild Unilever scaled back its previous pledges on plastic and diversity, saying new goals were “unashamedly realistic”.

Government backing

World Wide Generation’s sale adds the firm to a list of hundreds that have become insolvent following a loan or equity investment from the British Business Bank, which is taxpayer-funded.

Of the 1200 startups that have received investment from the British Business Bank via its Future Fund, nearly a third have since become insolvent, according to the organisation’s latest quarterly report, leading to a loss of £320m.

World Wide Generation is understood to have received around £15m of funding since it was founded in 2016, with participation from Consilium Ventures and the Eagle Venture Fund.

The firm, which developed tools to help clients monitor, manage, and improve their sustainability reporting, was in 2018 named technology partner to Canada’s Sustainable Development Capital Initiative, of which founder Manjula Lee, a former Shell employee, was a member.

According to its latest accounts filed with Companies House, the business, which had around two dozen staff, had racked up cumulative losses of around £13m. It tapped up shareholders for a further £2m in funding in March last year.

Marco Piacquadio and Rachel Ennis of FTS Recovery were appointed joint administrators of World Wide Generation Limited at the beginning of last week, City PM understands.

Expressions of interest are invited to be addressed to the administrator agents at Gordon Brothers.