A global sustainability data provider measuring the social and environmental impact of companies and investment portfolios has closed a seed round of funding.
Util’s machine learning models measure patterns at scale and without bias, revealing the degree to which more than 50,000 companies of different sizes, sectors, and regions – and the capital tracking them – perform against the 17 goals outlined in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as over 2,000 additional sustainability themes.
The round was led by Eldridge, with participation from Oxford Sciences Enterprises, Cris Conde (former CEO of Sungard Bank), Andy Brown (former CTO of UBS), and Roseann Palmieri (former Head of Enterprise Data Management at Bloomberg LP), among others.
“Global assets in sustainable investment strategies have exploded, yet the real-world impact of those investments remains contested thanks to poor-quality data,” said Util CEO Patrick Wood Uribe.
“With so much capital committed to positive social and environmental outcomes, and only eight years remaining to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is critical that we arm investors with more rigorous, detailed, and transparent data than corporate disclosures or analyst opinions to guide their asset allocation decisions.
“We’re delighted Eldridge supports our vision and look forward to working closely as we make sustainability a core consideration for financial institutions.”
Util’s clients include a.s.r., Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM) and Danske Bank.
The London-based firm will use the proceeds of the round to increase hiring efforts in the UK, expand its presence in the US, and scale operations to meet growing demand for coverage across new asset classes such as private markets and fixed income.