SoftBank and BlackRock Invest in Sustainability Tech Firm Clarity AI

December 02, 2021 at 05:15 AM EST

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 leads funding round totaling $50 million, indicating a valuation of $450 million
Existing investor, BlackRock, also participates in the round; Fifth Wall joins as a new investor

Clarity AI, an award-winning sustainability tech firm, is now valued at $450 million after raising $50 million in its latest funding round, which closed in August 2021. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the round and was joined by the Fifth Wall ClimateTech Fund as well as existing investors -- BlackRock among them. Private contributor Sir Jonathan Ive, Chancellor of the Royal College of Art and former Chief Design Officer at Apple also contributed to the round. Existing investors include Deutsche Boerse, Kibo Ventures, Mundi Ventures, Seaya Ventures and Founders Fund.

"The social and environmental challenges the world faces and the corresponding economic opportunities unlocked have put impact assessment at the forefront of the minds of investors and organizations. Having the support of such an influential group of backers and partners who share our vision for a more equitable, sustainable world is one more proof point that Clarity AI is on the right side of a real trend that we believe will continue to grow," said Rebeca Minguela, Founder and CEO of Clarity AI. "Our technology shows our clients how their investments and other organizations are positioned to impact the world. We are a tech-native firm with an innovative platform that can integrate directly into any client's systems, which we already do for large global platforms, including BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, Allfunds, the largest global fund distribution network, Manaos, the platform at BNP Paribas Securities Services, and Clearstream, which has clients in over 110 countries around the world."

Asset owners, asset managers, wealth managers and end investors are all fueling demand for investing strategies that align with their clients’ and/or their own values and investment conviction. Experiencing 15% growth in two years, assets under management allocated to sustainable investment strategies reached $35.3 trillion at the start of 2020 across the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australasia, and total sustainable investment assets under management equal 36% of all professionally managed assets under management globally.¹

“The sustainable investment market is already more than one third of total global assets and growing rapidly,” said Jimi Macdonald, investor for SoftBank Investment Advisers. “Empowering investors to make informed decisions about social and environmental impact is a real differentiator, and we are delighted to work with Rebeca and her team to bring this technology to an even larger network of stakeholders.”

As a leading pure-play technology platform in impact evaluation and assessment, Clarity AI enables anyone to manage the impact of their portfolios, no matter the size, through proprietary technology and machine learning around the most relevant industry recognized frameworks, including ESG, TCFD and UN SDGs. Clarity AI also supports regulatory disclosure and client reporting, such as those required by SFDR and EU Taxonomy regulation, to help investors meet new sustainability obligations.

“Since announcing our initial investment and partnership earlier this year, BlackRock and Clarity AI have integrated their capabilities natively within the Aladdin platform. We continue to believe in the value of Clarity AI’s data and tools, and the enhanced transparency and flexibility they provide. By embedding Clarity AI within investors’ daily workflows through Aladdin, we’re collectively able to help more investors construct sustainable and outcome-oriented portfolios over time," said Samantha Tortora, Head of Aladdin Sustainability at BlackRock.

“Fifth Wall’s Climate Tech Fund is proud to invest in Clarity AI, fueling its continued growth as it brings societal impact to the real estate industry,” said Brendan Wallace, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Fifth Wall. “At Fifth Wall, we are laser focused on helping the real estate industry assess the impact its assets have on the environment and climate change, and the World. Real estate is responsible for 40% of all CO2 emissions, and we believe Clarity AI is a highly strategic and valuable solution for real estate organizations that want to measure and mitigate their contributions to climate change.”

Clarity AI will use this new capital to continue developing its technology and to expand into new geographies and segments with strategic senior hires in all growth areas, including sales, marketing and partnerships.

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About Clarity AI

Clarity AI is a sustainability technology platform that uses machine learning and big data to deliver environmental and social insights to investors and organizations. As of December 2021, Clarity AI’s platform analyzes more than 30,000 companies, 135,000 funds, 198 countries and 187 local governments, and delivers data and analytics for investing, corporate research and reporting. Clarity AI has offices in the US and Europe. Clarity AI’s client network manages trillions in assets under management.

¹GSIA