In brief: Accenture Ventures bets on ESG data company boom

Accenture Ventures has joined a flock of private equity investors seeking a share of the upside as ESG data companies meet rising demand. The professional services firm’s venture capital arm has invested in pulsESG, a software-as-a-service company for ESG data management and reporting.

This is a strategic investment for Accenture, which plans to “bring [pulsESG’s] capabilities to our clients, alliances and partners to help improve ESG measurement and performance with greater transparency and assurance being sought across stakeholders,” Peter Lacy, Accenture’s chief responsibility officer and sustainability services lead, said in a statement.

Private equity investors’ appetite for ESG data companies and service providers is on the rise. Other recent investments include:

• General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, Astorg and Princeville Capital were among participants in a $500 million funding round for sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis in June. CVC invested $200 million in EcoVadis SAS in 2020 via its second growth fund.
• A $111 billion funding round took place for climate impact assessment company Project Canary in February. Brookfield, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Insight Partners, Carica Sustainable Investments (the sustainable investing arm of the Hamilton “Tony” James’s family office), Quantum Energy Partners, Energy Impact Partners and Frontier Venture Capital took part.
• Blackstone acquired ESG software and consulting company Sphera for $1.4 billion in 2021.
• KKR bought sustainability consultancy ERM in 2021 from Canadian pensions the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation in a deal that valued the company at $2.85 billion.
• Palatine Private Equity’s first impact fund made a minority investment in sustainability consultancy Anthesis in March 2021.

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