Climatiq raises $2m to build the Wikipedia of carbon footprinting

Hessam Lavi believes that tracking a company’s carbon footprint should be as easy as installing Google Analytics, and as simple to understand as a Wikipedia entry. It’s launching a public beta where developers will be able to access an open-source portal containing thousands of vetted data points, which they can use to integrate carbon tracking apps and widgets to their own software — all free of charge. The idea is that other businesses — such as ESG tracking companies or logistics providers — could get their developers to add emissions calculations to their own software, using Climatiq’s API. “Or you could take the API and plug it in with your own data that you have as a company,” von Bieberstein explains, “so you can check in every day, identify outliers, make predictions and run analysis.” One example of how early users (Climatiq is unable to disclose the names of the companies it is working with) are building on the platform is a logistics firm that’s figuring out how the impact of shipping products to customers changes depending on the modes of transport used for each leg of the journey. Most interestingly, Climatiq also plans to give companies the option of contributing their own data to the platform, making it possible for others to understand the exact environmental impact of using their products or services.