Balderton engages portfolio companies on ESG measurement with Sweep

Background

Balderton is Europe’s leading venture capital investor, backing European-founded technology companies from seed to growth stages. Conscious of the transition towards the low-carbon economy, they want to take responsibility for managing its footprint and contribute to reaching our global net-zero targets.

In 2020, Balderton defined a set of values and Sustainable Future Goals (SFGs), which were informed by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The firm decided to track and grow its positive impact across internal operations, portfolio companies, and investment decision-making. This includes initiatives such as diversity & inclusion practices, a startup guide to ESG, and carbon emission management. Since 2023, Balderton has been using Sweep to measure and take action on its portfolio’s footprint.

Problem

When it comes to carbon footprinting, asset managers face a lengthy data collection exercise. Since the vast majority of their footprint comes from investments, they need to collect and track the emission data of each investee. In the case of Balderton, that means engaging over 115 companies of different sizes, industries, and at different stages of growth.
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This calls for a tailored approach to measurement. Indeed, the carbon emissions of neobank Revolut require a different set of emission factors from vertical farming startup Infarm for instance. It’s also important to account for team sizes and company stages: Smaller companies have limited resources – staff, time, and education – to learn and report carbon and ESG data.

Solution

To successfully achieve its Sustainable Future Goals, Balderton realized that relying on technology to streamline data management and carbon literacy across its portfolio was key. On top of having its corporate and portfolio emissions all in one place, using Sweep for Finance contributed to progress in the following areas:

• Defining the scope of emissions: The first year requires some heavy lifting in terms of defining a fund’s emission boundaries, materiality, and emission factors. Balderton leveraged Sweep’s Organize module to map out and track in-real time all its emissions.

• Comprehensive portfolio engagement: Balderton uses Sweep’s surveys to collect and track its carbon footprint across its investment portfolio. After an introductory webinar about the fundamental carbon accounting and the Sweep’s platform, investees received customizable surveys, automatically connecting their emission data to Barderton’s.
• Meeting carbon and ESG reporting requirements: With Sweep’s customizable dashboards, Balderton can report carbon and ESG data in accordance with LP and regulatory sustainability reporting expectations.