Gresham House Ventures Leads £4.65mn Investment Round in Climate Impact Data Business Connect Earth

Gresham House Ventures, a growth equity investor specialising in software and digitally driven businesses in the consumer, healthcare and service sectors, has led a £4.65mn investment round in climate impact data business Connect Earth.

Founded in 2021 and based in London, Connect Earth is an API-first environmental data company that works with banks and fintech firms to offer their customers transparent insights into the climate impact of their spending and investment decisions. The business has grown quickly since its launch and, through its easy-to-integrate API, has estimated carbon emissions for more than 500 million financial transactions since the beginning of 2022. Its technology has now been integrated with large banking groups such as KBC Bank, community banks and fintech firms across Europe and the US.

The investment will be used to accelerate Connect Earth’s expansion among blue chip names in Europe and the US, where it has already begun working with financial institutions and strategic partners such as FIS Global. The additional capital will also help bolster the company’s product offering by further breaking down the barriers to accessing environmental data.

As part of the investment, Gresham House Ventures has brought Stewart Holness onto Connect Earth’s Board. Holness is an experienced Chair with more than 25 years of experience scaling technology businesses as a founder, CEO, non-executive director and Chairperson.

The investment continues an active period of dealmaking for Gresham House Ventures, which recently completed a £4mn follow-on investment into ecommerce innovator Patchworks, a £4.5mn investment into specialist eating disorder clinic Orri, and exits from outdoor apparel manufacturer Equip Outdoor Technologies and print management information software firm Tharstern.

The funding round, led by Zixin Pan and Benjamin Faulkner, also featured investment from Love Ventures, Global Brain and its CVC partner The Norinchukin Bank, Portfolio Ventures, Super Capital VC, strategic angel investors and existing investors Market One Capital, Mustard Seed MAZE and Venista Ventures.

Zixin Pan, associate director at Gresham House Ventures says:

“We have been impressed with Connect Earth’s rapid growth since its launch and believe the business is well placed to lead the way as the financial services sector increasingly integrates environmental insights into its consumer-facing operations. This investment aligns well with Gresham House’s expertise in managing impactful sustainable investments and will enable Connect Earth to widen its product offering and client base to further increase its positive impact.”

Alexander Lempka, co-founder and chief executive at Connect Earth, says:

“Financial services businesses are increasingly putting environmental data at the heart of their operations, and Connect Earth has an important role to play in this shift. Gresham House Ventures has an outstanding track record of supporting technology-driven businesses in their vital early stages of growth, and we look forward to working with the team to strengthen our offering further over the coming years.”

Nick Carmont, co-founder and chief technology officer at Connect Earth, added:

“We are delighted to have secured this investment, which will enable us to significantly increase our capacity for working with new partners around the world. Connect Earth has the potential to make a huge impact on the financial sector and this investment will accelerate our ambitions to become the environmental data backbone of financial services across the globe.”