European regulation is making ESG reporting mandatory from a good thing to a bad thing. It creates new possibilities for Paris-based startups like Apedewhose platform targets private equity funds and blue-chip companies that need to track and pilot sustainability practices.
Asset management firms have been a key target for Epide, particularly European firms. Thanks to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), it’s not just impact funds that are taking a close look at sustainability metrics: firms of all kinds are now paying attention to ESG reporting.
This creates a different environment for Epideic in 2021 from when it was founded, but it is also an environment in which ESG Response Audi CEO Eduard Audi himself has been contacted regarding this matter. Criticism of Elon Musk’s ESG ratingAnd agrees that there are limitations. But with Epide, his focus is on using ESG for value creation and not just compliance.
The company has raised €10 million in a Series A funding round, which will help Epideme accelerate its growth in a sector that includes well-funded competitors, such as Alphasense, Dataminer And SesameAlso owned by FactSet TruValue Labs,
Like these players, Epide leverages AI to save its clients time. But like legacy advisors, it also offers human expertise. It’s the combination of the two that gives it an edge over old and new competitors, CEO Edouard Audi told TechCrunch in an interview.
Another differentiator is its expansion plans. With clients in 23 countries and 60% of sales outside France, it plans to double down on its expansion in Europe and open offices in Germany and the UK. As it also aims to improve its offering overall, it expects to grow its team from 40 to 70 employees in the next 12 months.
Audi also hopes that the latest funding round from Epideic will strengthen the company’s position among asset management firms.
Before co-founding Epide with former investor Charles Mori, Audi co-founded ride-hailing company LeCabAnd this journey inspired him to delve into the ESG field. Compared to competitors, LeCab was performing better on some ESG-related matters, Audi said, but this was not properly taken into account in its sale Due to the lack of metrics on these topics.
Again, the way investors engage with ESG now is not what it was before; and on the corporate side, ESG reporting is about to get another boost from the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). “The importance of ESG data will increase dramatically over the next few years,” said Stanislas Lott, partner at Daphnis who led the round.
However, data is only the basis. More important is what can be done with it. For example, Apide helps its clients develop roadmaps that include about 350 actions they can take to improve their ESG practices once they are compliant. Funds have already reached that stage, but Apide expects corporates to follow, and it will be interesting to see how quickly they do so.
Its Series A backers include AENU, Daphni, Galion.exe and SWEN Capital, as well as existing investors Speedinvest and Revent.
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