New York, December 2, 2021 – Clarity AI, an award-winning sustainability tech firm, is now valued at $450 million after raising $50 million in its latest funding round. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the round and was joined by the Fifth Wall ClimateTech Fund as well as existing investors – BlackRock among them. Private contributor Sir Jonathan Ive, Chancellor of the Royal College of Art and former Chief Design Officer at Apple also contributed to the round. Existing investors include Seaya Ventures, Deutsche Boerse, Kibo Ventures, Mundi Ventures and Founders Fund.
«The social and environmental challenges the world faces and the corresponding economic opportunities unlocked have put impact assessment at the forefront of the minds of investors and organizations. Having the support of such an influential group of backers and partners who share our vision for a more equitable, sustainable world is one more proof point that Clarity AI is on the right side of a real trend that we believe will continue to grow,» said Rebeca Minguela, Founder and CEO of Clarity AI. «Our technology shows our clients how their investments and other organizations are positioned to impact the world. We are a tech-native firm with an innovative platform that can integrate directly into any client’s systems, which we already do for large global platforms, including BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, Allfunds, the largest global fund distribution network, Manaos, the platform at BNP Paribas Securities Services, and Clearstream, which has clients in over 110 countries around the world.»
Seaya invested in Clarity in 2019 alongside 14W and Founders Fund, prior to the company’s commercial launch, and invested further in 2020. Since then, Seaya has supported the team throughout its international expansion that has led to becoming a global leader in the sustainability investment sector.
This funding round comes after investments and strategic relationships forged with leaders of the capital markets and asset management space, such as Blackrock and Deutsche Boerse. “This investment reinforces our thesis that we can achieve top decile returns backing sustainable tech companies with founders that share our values«, said Beatriz Gonzalez, Founder and Managing Partner at Seaya.
As a leading pure-play technology platform in impact evaluation and assessment, Clarity AI enables anyone to manage the impact of their portfolios, no matter the size, through proprietary technology and machine learning around the most relevant industry recognized frameworks, including ESG, TCFD and UN SDGs. Clarity AI also supports regulatory disclosure and client reporting, such as those required by SFDR and EU Taxonomy regulation, to help investors meet new sustainability obligations.
Asset owners, asset managers, wealth managers and end investors are all fueling demand for investing strategies that align with their clients’ and/or their own values and investment conviction. Experiencing 15% growth in two years, assets under management allocated to sustainable investment strategies reached $35.3 trillion at the start of 2020 globally – 36% of all assets under management.
“The sustainable investment market is already more than one third of total global assets and growing rapidly,” said Jimi Macdonald, investor for SoftBank Investment Advisers. “Empowering investors to make informed decisions about social and environmental impact is a real differentiator, and we are delighted to work with Rebeca and her team to bring this technology to an even larger network of stakeholders.”
Clarity AI will use this new capital to continue developing its technology and to expand into new geographies and segments with strategic senior hires in all growth areas, including sales, marketing and partnerships.
About Clarity AI
Clarity AI is a sustainability technology platform that uses machine learning and big data to deliver environmental and social insights to investors and organizations. As of December 2021, Clarity AI’s platform analyzes more than 30,000 companies, 135,000 funds, 198 countries and 187 local governments, and delivers data and analytics for investing, corporate research and reporting. Clarity AI has offices in the US and Europe. Clarity AI’s client network manages trillions in assets under management.
About Seaya
Seaya Ventures is a leading European & Latin-American Venture Capital firm based in Spain, investing in value-driven founders who are building global technology companies with a sustainable approach.
Since raising its first fund in 2013, Seaya manages $350M across three early-stage funds. Seaya Ventures accelerates startup growth by working with the founders to enhance their strategic vision, putting at their disposal its global platform, its strong network of founders, investors and corporates, as well as Seaya’s experience in scaling leading companies such as Glovo, Cabify, Wallbox (NYSE:WBX), Spotahome, Clarity AI, Clicars and Savana.
