Small business carbon tracking software startup Trace raises $1.5 million

GreenTech startup, Trace has raised $1.5 million as it looks to help small and medium sized companies (SMEs) track and manage their carbon emissions.

The round was backed by 21 investors including private family office 5 Pillars Capital, existing investor Antler, The Fund, Epoch Capital, Existential Capital and several angel investors, including Envato co-founder Collis Ta’eed .

Trace was previously part of the Antler accelerator program and previously raised $400,000 in pre-seed funding,

Trace is simple and transparent so small business owners can see where their carbon offset money goes and the carbon removed as a result.

Co-founders Catherine (Cat) Long and Joanna Auburn, have evolved from their initial goal of their own sustainable brand to focus one helping SMEs make their own businesses ‘Climate Positive’.

The pair discovered when launching a sustainable fashion brand, that building an environmentally-conscious business is not as easy as they’d hoped.

Auburn, a former product manager at Finder, and Long, ex Macquarie Group, said Trace’s streamlined data collection portal and powerful emissions calculation engine, can measure a company’s carbon footprint in a matter of days, at an accessible price point for any size business, wherever they are on their sustainability journey.

The startup has taken on 120 companies as clients in the last 12 months, with the goal of hitting 1000 by the end of the year.

One of them is Michael Humphreys founder and MD of Epoch Capital, now an investor in the startup

“Trace’s approach is both engaging and simplifying, taking away the frictions individuals and companies experience when navigating the journey to Net Zero,” he said.

Antler associate partner Laura Falconer said they were proud to have backed Trace since a pre-seed investment in 2020.

“As people and organisations around the world become increasingly aware of their impact and seek innovative ways to offset their carbon footprint, Trace is well-positioned to provide a way forward,” she said.

“We like that Trace is a low-cost, easy to use platform and that it has already found strong early traction in a growing market.”

Long said the rising price carbon credits in recent months is a positive trend for al.

“This is what carbon is worth. It’s not expensive, it’s the cost of fixing the planet and creates a stronger imperative for businesses to decarbonise faster,” she said.

“We’re encouraged to see that demand from SMEs willing to invest in taking action is accelerating.”