Climate Insider Brief:
- Root Global, a Berlin-based startup, secured €8 million in seed funding to help food and beverage companies achieve net-zero GHG emissions, with plans to expand its team and develop a customer-facing product.
- The company’s RootOS platform, launched in October 2023, provides tools for managing and reducing emissions, including data collection, Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) calculation, and Scope 3 emissions measurement.
- Root Global is already partnering with major European food and beverage companies, working with over 10,000 farmers to manage and reduce millions of tons of CO2 emissions, positioning itself as a leader in the sector’s climate impact reduction efforts.
Berlin-based startup Root Global has raised €8 million in seed funding to advance its mission of helping food and beverage companies achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The funding round was led by Christoph Janz at Point Nine, known for investing in companies like Soda and ampere.cloud, with participation from Project A, HelloWorld, Arc Investors, and several experienced startup operators.
Root Global is now poised to enter its next phase of growth, which includes expanding its team and developing a customer-facing product. This expansion is essential as the startup takes on the complex challenge of helping companies measure and reduce their GHG emissions, a process that often involves delving deep into supply chains, where the largest sources of emissions typically reside.
The company’s approach is grounded in the reality that a company’s carbon footprint is not limited to its direct operations but also includes emissions from all its suppliers. This makes accurate carbon accounting particularly challenging, especially in industries with extensive and fragmented supply chains like food and beverage. Root Global’s solution aims to address this challenge by providing clear, practical tools for companies to demonstrate year-over-year emission reductions, positioning itself to become a standard in a market worth an estimated €400 billion.
Launched in October 2023, Root Global’s flagship platform, RootOS, offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to help companies across the food system manage their climate impact and reduce GHG emissions. The platform enables users to collect and verify on-farm data at scale, calculate their Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) according to the latest GHG Protocol updates, and establish a reliable baseline year for ongoing emission reductions. Additionally, RootOS allows companies to calculate and share Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) with buyers and measure Scope 3 emissions from agricultural operations, which are often the most challenging to track and mitigate.
Root Global has already made significant inroads in the industry, onboarding some of Europe’s largest food and beverage players, including the continent’s largest dairy plant and the world’s largest fast-food chain. Through these partnerships, the company is working with over 10,000 farmers to help manage and reduce millions of tons of CO2 emissions.
Co-founders Eric Oancea and Maurice Hensl emphasized the urgency of their mission in a recent blog post, noting that climate performance has become a critical business metric. “Our mission is more urgent today than ever. Climate performance has become a critical business performance indicator as enterprises are now mandated to disclose their climate performance and set Net Zero targets. Some of the companies we now work with had even lost key customers due to missing climate requirements and documentation, prior to onboarding.”
Root Global’s innovative approach and its RootOS platform position it to potentially revolutionize the food and beverage industry’s approach to climate impact. By offering a comprehensive solution for managing and reducing GHG emissions, Root Global is making it easier for companies to meet their Net Zero targets. As it continues to partner with major industry players and support thousands of farmers, the company is on track to become a standard-bearer in reducing the sector’s carbon footprint.
SOURCE: Tech Funding News
Featured Image: Credit: Root Global
