Proof of Impact lands $6M in funding to enable transition to a more sustainable and purposeful world by linking ESG and impact data

With many issues facing our world today, small and big corporations alike are no longer just focusing on short-term profit but also on their impacts on society and the world at large. Today, the world is faced with a plethora of issues including environmental, social, and wealth gaps, among others.

Addressing these issues is not limited to just big corporations. On an individual level, impact investing is becoming increasingly popular among investors as a way to generate specific beneficial social or environmental effects in addition to financial gains.

Over the past few years, companies are now adopting non-financial factors and a more stakeholder-centric approach to doing business using what is known as ESG.

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. Investors and businesses alike are increasingly applying ESG as criteria for making decisions about their company’s operations, global impacts, and what they invest their money on. For example, companies are now divesting from fossil fuels projects to investing in renewables like solar and wind.

However, in recent years, ESG has come under criticism and that ESG ratings are not what they seem. A recent report by Bloomberg found that MSCI, “the largest ESG rating company, doesn’t even try to measure the impact of a corporation on the world.”

To adress some of the ESG concerns and impact, one startup has made its mission to empower the transition to a more sustainable and purposeful world by linking ESG and impact data with strategic business performance.

Enter Proof of Impact (POI), a San Diego, California-based sustainable startup that has created a unique product toolset that enables purpose-driven investors, asset managers, enterprises, consultants, and other institutions to better understand and fulfill their impact- and ESG-related objectives and progress. POI is also integrated with over 200 industry-leading tools (and counting) so that ESG-conscious companies can get the most out of the tools they already use.

Today, Proof of Impact announced it has raised a $6 million raise in Pre-Series A funding for its next-generation platform for ESG and impact data intelligence. The round was led by Rakuten Capital with first-time participation from a global suite of investors including Franklin Templeton Blockchain Fund, Five T, Blockrocket VC, and Advaita Capital.

Existing investors Franklin Templeton Advisors, CV VC, Working Capital Fund, Asiri and Oxford Angel Fund also participated. This Pre-Series A round was substantially oversubscribed and was expanded from the initial $5 million target. The round closed less than eight months after POI’s $2.3 million seed round.

Founded in 2019 by Fleur Heyns, Iulian Circo, and Kevin Dean Pettit, Proof of Impact is a data intelligence startup that bridges the gap in ESG and impact data. The company provides a digital platform to collect, verify, and visualize ESG and impact data in order to generate granular insights and contextual analysis, translating raw ESG & impact data into actionable intelligence.

Proof of Impact also provides the greater purpose-driven economy with the ability to comprehensively view companies’ past and predicted performance towards their social and environmental objectives — for transparent, continuous, and dynamic impact management at scale.

Proof of Impact has created a unique product toolset that enables purpose-driven investors, asset managers, enterprises, consultants and other institutions to better understand and fulfill their impact- and ESG-related objectives and progress — with the unique goal of tying verified impact to financial performance. The platform operates in more than 30 different industries, and its client base of over 100 companies has grown to span six continents. Collectively, customers have entrusted Proof of Impact with over one billion ESG and impact data points that have been validated by its platform.

The new funding will allow Proof of Impact to accelerate go-to-market efforts focused on private credit and private equity fund managers, expand its impact-linked finance solutions, and further extend its core product offering by incorporating blockchain-based innovations in the form of proprietary impact oracles.

Proof of Impact will additionally leverage the deep expertise and insight of two new appointments to its Board of Directors: Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel from Rakuten and Gayatri Sarkar of Advaita Capital. The directors will provide focused strategic guidance as the company drives growth and scaling efforts adding to an assemblage of industry veterans with vast experience in technology, finance and impact investing.

“Proof of Impact’s strategy of empowering businesses to measure and improve their impact on the environment and society is consistent with Rakuten Group’s mission and sustainability goals. We were impressed with the company’s data-driven products and the management team’s demonstrated ability to rapidly grow their customer base. We look forward to working with them on the next stage of their growth,” noted Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel, Managing Partner at Rakuten Capital.