Would You like a feature Interview?
All Interviews are 100% FREE of Charge
European regulations are transforming ESG reporting from a “nice to have” to a “must have,” creating new momentum for the Paris-based startup. ApideiThe company’s platform targets private equity funds and blue-chip companies that need to track and pilot sustainability initiatives.
Asset managers, particularly in Europe, are a prime target for Apiday. With the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), it’s not just impact funds that are closely monitoring sustainability metrics: all kinds of companies are now paying attention to ESG reporting.
This has created a different environment than when Apidei was founded in 2021, and a backlash against ESG has emerged. CEO Edouard Audi said: Elon Musk’s criticism of ESG ratingsand agrees that these have limitations. But his focus at Apiday is on using ESG for value creation, not just compliance.
The company has just raised €10 million in a Series A funding round, which will help Apiday accelerate its growth in a market that includes well-funded competitors AlphaSense, Datamin, Sesam and companies owned by FactSet. True Value Lab.
Like those companies, Apiday uses AI to save its customers time. But it also offers human expertise, as do traditional consultants. That combination of both gives it an edge over competitors old and new, CEO Edouard Audi said in an interview with TechCrunch.
Another differentiator is its expansion plans: With customers in 23 countries and 60% of its sales outside France, the company is looking to expand in Europe and plans to open offices in Germany and the UK. It also wants to improve its overall service offering, so it expects its headcount to grow from 40 to 70 over the next 12 months.
Audi also hopes that Apiday’s latest funding round will boost the company’s standing among asset managers.
Before co-founding Apidey with former investor Charles Morley, Audi co-founded ride-hailing company Recab, an experience that led him to decide to move into the ESG space. Compared to its competitors, Recab excelled in some ESG-related areas, which Audi said were not being properly considered. In sales This is due to a lack of metrics on these topics.
Again, the way investors approach ESG is different now. And on the corporate side, ESG reporting is about to be further promoted by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). “The importance of ESG data will increase dramatically in the coming years,” said Stanislas Roth, a partner at Daphne who led the round.
But data is only the foundation; it’s what you can do with it that matters. For example, Apiday is helping clients create a roadmap with about 350 actions they can take to improve their ESG practices after they’re in compliance. Funds have already reached that stage, but Apiday expects companies to follow suit, and it will be interesting to see how quickly they do so.
Series A backers include AENU, Daphni, Galion.exe and SWEN Capital, as well as existing investors Speedinvest and Revent.