SAN FRANCISCO, CA & LONDON, UK, Feb. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Watershed, the leading enterprise sustainability platform, announced a $100M Series C funding round at a $1.8B valuation. The financing was led by Greenoaks, with participation from existing investors including Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil, Emerson Collective, Galvanize Climate Solutions, Neo, and others. With this new funding, Watershed will continue powering best-in-class climate programs at the world’s leading companies, while redoubling its investment in Europe.
“Corporate climate action is accelerating,” said Watershed co-founder Taylor Francis. “Companies of all sizes and sectors are making sustainability a board-level priority, and we are supporting them as they work to measure, report, and reduce their emissions. This new investment will bolster our mission to accelerate the climate economy.”
“Carbon measurement and climate disclosures are shifting quickly from optional to mandatory,” said Neil Mehta, Managing Partner at Greenoaks. “We believe Watershed has emerged as the clear market leader, with a sophisticated data engine that is already best-in-class and gets even better with scale. That is why they have become the first choice for the world’s largest and most complex enterprises, who trust Watershed to measure rigorously, report accurately, and act decisively. We are delighted to partner with the Watershed team as they pursue this urgent and important mission.”
This investment caps a year of increasing climate imperative in the private sector. Two-thirds of the global Fortune 500 have made significant climate pledges; 23,000 companies now report emissions data to CDP; and the US Inflation Reduction Act has spurred hundreds of billions of dollars of private-sector climate investment. 2024 represents the first year of government-mandated climate disclosure for nearly 12,000 global companies under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Watershed’s product and ecosystem have expanded to meet this market demand. Its customers now include industry leaders such as General Mills, Carlyle, BBVA, Paramount, Block, and 4 of the top 6 US banks. In 2023, Watershed acquired CEDA, the world’s leading multi-regional emissions database; launched Watershed Disclosures, the first dedicated software product for sustainability reporting; and enabled customers to fund high-impact clean power and sustainable aviation fuel through the Watershed Marketplace. Watershed’s growing ecosystem now includes partnerships with KPMG, Accenture, ERM, PCAF, and others; its advisor network includes a Policy Advisory Board, chaired by Mark Carney, and a Science Advisory Board, chaired by Dr. Steve Davis.
In aggregate, Watershed’s customers now manage more than an estimated 479 million tonnes of CO2e—up more than 10x in the last year, and greater than the total annual emissions of the international aviation industry. With this new funding, Watershed will deepen investment in delivering granular emissions measurement, audit-ready sustainability reporting, and science-backed decarbonization for the world’s leading companies.
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ABOUT WATERSHED: Watershed is the enterprise sustainability platform. Companies like Airbnb, Carlyle Group, Everlane, YETI, and BBVA use Watershed to measure, report, and act on their emissions, so they can produce audit-ready carbon footprints that drive real reductions. With embedded climate intelligence from the world’s leading climate and policy experts, Watershed is the platform of choice for companies seeking to satisfy regulatory requirements, unlock new business opportunities, and address climate-related risks. Watershed customers also have exclusive access to a marketplace of pre-vetted, high-quality carbon projects and groundbreaking virtual power purchase agreements.
Amelia Penniman Watershed amelia@watershed.com
