European regulation turns ESG reporting from nice to mandatory. This creates new sky winds for startups like Paris Apidaywhose platform targets private equity and blue-chip companies that need to monitor and pilot sustainability practices.
Asset management companies were a key target for Apiday, especially European ones. Due to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), it’s not just impact funds that are keeping a close eye on sustainability metrics: All kinds of companies are now paying attention to ESG reporting.
This creates a different environment than when Apiday was founded in 2021, but also one in which ESG reactions have emerged. Audi CEO Édouard Audi himself deals with Elon Musk’s critique of ESG ratings, and agrees that these have limits. But his focus with Apiday is on using ESG to create value, not just compliance.
The company just raised €10 million in a Series A funding round, which will help Apiday accelerate its growth in a space that includes well-funded competitors like AlphaSense, Dataminr and Sesamm, as well as FactSet ownership Truvalue Laboratories.
Like these players, Apiday leverages artificial intelligence to save time for its customers. But like legacy consultants, it also offers human expertise. It’s the combination of both that gives it an edge over old and new competitors, CEO Édouard Audi told TechCrunch.
Another differentiator is its expansion plan. With customers in 23 countries and 60% of its sales outside of France, it plans to double in Europe and open offices in Germany and the UK, as it also aims to improve its offering overall, it expects its team to grow from 40 to 70 employees in the next 12 months.
Audi also hopes that Apiday’s latest funding round will strengthen the company’s position among asset management companies.
Before co-founding Apiday with former investor Charles Moury, Audi co-founded ride-hailing company LeCab, and that journey inspired him to go into the ESG space. Compared to competitors, LeCab did better in some ESG-related aspects, Audi said, but this was not properly taken into account in its sale due to lack of measurements on these subjects.
Again, the way investors engage with ESG now is not the same as it was then. and on the corporate side, ESG reporting is set to receive another boost from the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). “The importance of ESG data will increase dramatically in the coming years,” said Stanislas Lot, the partner who led the round at Daphni.
However, the data is only the basis. What is more important is what can be done with it. Apiday, for example, helps its clients develop roadmaps, including about 350 actions they can take to improve their ESG practices once they are compliant. Funds have already reached this stage, but Apiday expects companies to follow suit, 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.
