London-based Pledge, a startup that makes it simple for businesses of every size to understand and manage the climate impact of their products, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $10M (approximately €9.18M) in a Series A round of funding. 

The UK-based company aims to help businesses reach net zero emissions, starting with the logistics and supply chain industry.

Investors in this round

The investment was led by Zinal Growth, with new investors Base Partners and Ace & Company. 

Besides, founders from leading B2B SaaS companies and veterans from the logistics industry, including Dirk Reich, former Member of the Management Board at Kuehne+Nagel, also participated in this round.

Guillaume Waser, Managing Partner at Zinal Growth, says, “Pledge’s product-led approach and vertical focus makes it a really exciting company in a new and growing space.”

“With a product built on simplicity, scalability, and transparency, the founders have drawn aspects from their background in highly regulated and complex industries like payments and capital markets and applied them to the world of climate tech.”

“They are taking an approach usually seen in vertical B2B SaaS companies and are applying it to impact some of the biggest emitting industries in the world.”

Sustainability for freight and logistics

Founded in 2021 André M, David de Picciotto, Thomas Lucas, and Pierre Vaidie, Pledge offers tools to freight forwarders to offer their supply chain partners the ability to measure, report, reduce and remove their scope 3 carbon emissions.

The company’s platform is built with accessibility, transparency and simplicity at its core. 

Pledge has tools like Clarity and Accuracy that walk users through each stage of the emissions calculation process, ensuring that results are auditable and clients are confident in meeting their reporting obligations.

According to Pledge, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Fit for 55 in Europe are two recent climate regulations that have increased regulatory pressure on supply chain and logistics leaders, forcing them to address their emissions and implement long-term reductions.

In a statement, Pledge mentions that the logistics sector as a whole generates 11 per cent of the world’s total GHG emissions, while supply chain emissions make up over 70 per cent of the overall GHG emissions for big and medium-sized firms.

In order to deliver a better user experience in the market and assist logistics firms in saving time and money, gaining new business, and enhancing supply chain resilience, the UK-based company is offering a self-serve solution and a free trial option.

Pledge is accredited by the Smart Freight Centre (SFC) for its adherence to the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) framework and is ISO 14083 compliant.

Capital utilisation

David de Picciotto says, “We started Pledge with the belief that technology can be a powerful lever in the fight against climate change.”

“This funding round enables us to continue building best-in-class products to help accelerate businesses’ transition to net zero and remove gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere.”

Pledge has already partnered up with a variety of logistics and freight-forwarding clients, including Ligentia, Raft, and Zencargo. It also powers sustainability initiatives for top industry groups like WCAworld, which has more than 10,000 members worldwide, and BIFA in the UK.