Private equity firm Astorg and BeyondNetZero, General Atlantic‘s climate investing arm, have led a $500m funding round in sustainability data firm EcoVadis to make it the first unicorn in the sector.
Singaporean sovereign fund GIC and Princeville Capital also took part in the round, Reuters reported, citing company co-founder and co-CEO Frederic Trinel.
It said EcoVadis had seen a surge in demand from companies to track their performance on environmental and social issues, especially from smaller and often private companies which make up the bulk of EcoVadis’ coverage.
The company is used by more than 95,000 business across 200 industry categories and 175 countries. It provides ratings on ESG issues and helps create plans for companies to improve their scores.
Trinel said, “We see a tipping point in the market. Everything is really accelerating. When we look at the numbers, this year EcoVadis will grow 50%, last year we grew 45%, the previous year 35%, and the one before 30%. So every year, we’ve been gaining five points of growth.”
The funding will help the company’s growth plans, including through acquisitions, in the North American and Asian markets.
French private equity group Astorg closed its first dedicated midcap fund on €1.3bn in February, beating its initial target and reaching its hard cap. The vehicle looks to invest in European-based, global B2B niche leaders that benefit from secular and resilient growth as well as attractive and profitable business models, the firm said.
The firm agreed to acquire pharmaceutical communications provider OPEN Health from healthcare-focused buyout house Amulet Capital Partners and a buyout of drug contract development and manufacturing business CordenPharma in a deal reportedly worth more than €2.5bn last month month.
It steamed past its target for its seventh flagship buyout fund in 2019 to reach its €4bn hard cap in just three months.
Astorg registered to raise Fund VIII last summer, but has not publicly revealed a target.
General Atlantic launched BeyondNetZero last year to identify and scale innovative solutions focused on meeting and exceeding net zero emissions targets. The group is led by chairman, former BP group CEO Lord Browne.
General Atlantic held a $7.8bn final close for its sixth flagship fund last year, beating its $5bn target.
The firm now has $23.8bn in committed capital and more than $78bn in assets under management.
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