Accelerating the ESG transformation - Daato closes €5 Million seed round 

Berlin, 20/03/2024 – Daato, the pioneering ESG management platform from Berlin, proudly announces securing over €5 million in seed funding, led by kopa ventures in partnership with neosfer, and IBB Ventures. This investment marks a pivotal moment for Daato, further enabling its mission to make ESG management efficient, compliant, and insightful for all businesses.

"As a startup operating in a happening space like ESG, we are thrilled to attract the commitment of investors such as kopa, Neosfer, and IBB Ventures – it speaks to the strength of our offering. This investment marks not just a vote of confidence in our vision and technology but also heralds a new chapter of accelerated growth and innovation for our company. The expertise and network that kopa Ventures, neosfer, and IBB Ventures bring to the table are invaluable as we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in the ESG software space.” – Satya Kamal Raparthi, CEO & Co-Founder of Daato.

After an impressive year of growth, achieving over a million in sales and establishing customer partnerships throughout the EU, Daato is poised for accelerated expansion. The platform stands out as the most comprehensive solution for ESG compliance and sustainability management, offering a unique "horizontal" approach that meets the entire range of EU ESG reporting frameworks with its modular and highly standardized design.

”Daato’s team convinced us with their holistic solution that will enable SMEs and corporates to monitor, report, and improve their ESG-related impact towards a sustainable economy. We were impressed by the founders' domain expertise and deep understanding of the customer needs, reflected in their early market success.” – Luis Sperr, managing partner at kopa ventures.

Daato's ability to serve both large corporations and SMEs is particularly significant amidst the evolving ESG market, driven by the recent EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). With approximately 60,000 EU companies now facing new ESG reporting requirements, Daato offers an essential solution to navigate these complexities with ease.

By making ESG metrics accessible and actionable, Daato encourages corporations, including SMEs, to adopt more sustainable and transparent practices, fostering a more eco-conscious and ethically responsible business landscape.

“In an era where sustainability and ethical governance define the frontier of corporate leadership, it is imperative for executives to embrace ESG management not merely as a compliance tick-box but as a cornerstone of strategic vision. The amalgamation of a dedicated, innovative team and cutting-edge technology forms the bedrock of this endeavor, enabling organizations to navigate the complexities of ESG commitments. This is why I support Daato whose founders have shown foresight, dedication, and agility from the beginning of their journey.” – Anahita Thoms, Board Advisor of Daato and an esteemed expert in Corporate Sustainability.

The new funds will be directed towards enhancing the platform's automation capabilities and accelerating market expansion further to become the leading solution for comprehensive sustainability management. Daato aims to alleviate the operational burdens of ESG compliance, reinforcing its position as a key partner in the journey towards ESG excellence.

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About Daato

Daato was founded by Satya Kamal Raparthi, formerly one of the Co-Founders of Mercanis, Head of Strategy at Scoutbee, an alumnus of ESCP Business School, and Thilo Hitz, formerly a Senior Policy Advisor in the German Environment Ministry and an alumnus of Hertie School of Governance. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and services customers globally.

About kopa ventures

kopa ventures is an established early-stage impact investor with a focus on European climate tech startups in the fields of Energy, Mobility, Nature, and Carbon Tech. 
The kopa ventures team, located in Berlin, Munich, Mainz, and London, combines exceptional domain expertise, entrepreneurial acumen, and access to an extensive investment and expert network to support early-stage startups in achieving substantial positive financial and ecological impacts.

About Neosfer

neosfer is the early-stage investor and innovation unit of Commerzbank Group. It investigates future technologies that are relevant to business and society, promotes and develops sustainable, digital solutions, and brings them profitably to the bank and its customers. All of this is done through the three areas of invest, build and, connect. It creates access to innovation through strategic venture capital (invest), in-house development of technologies and business models (build), and building ecosystems around the sustainable and digital future of society (connect). 

neosfer GmbH, or neosfer for short, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Commerzbank AG based in Frankfurt am Main.

About IBB Ventures

IBB Ventures has been providing venture capital to innovative Berlin-based companies since 1997 and has established itself as the market leader in early-stage financing. The funds are primarily used for development and market launch of innovative products or services as well as for business concepts from creative industries. In addition to the two VC funds for technology and creative companies with a volume of EUR 90 million, an impact VC fund with a volume of EUR 30 million has been in the investment phase since 2022. All VC funds are financed by the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the State of Berlin. IBB Ventures has already invested in more than 260 creative and technology companies in Berlin; in syndicates with partners, the start-ups received approx. EUR 1.8 billion, of which IBB Ventures has invested EUR 275 million as lead, co-lead or co-investor. IBB Ventures is the parent brand for the VC activities of IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft.