Estonian data startup ESGrid raises €500K in a pre-seed investment round
Tallinn-based data startup ESGrid has raised €500K in a pre-seed investment round from Estonian VC Lemonade Stand, Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN), Estonian accelerator and fund Startup Wise Guys, and Estonian Little Green Fund. Key former employees of money transfer service Wise, including co-founder of investment platform Grunfin Alvar Lumberg, business angel Kairi Pauskar, and the founders of quality management platform Klaus, Kair Käsper, and Martin Kõiva also participated in the round.
Established in Tallinn in 2023 by Katrin Isotamm, Oksana Tolmatshova, and Ott Ilves, ESGrid is a SaaS platform that helps European medium-sized enterprises and financial institutions collect data to assess and improve their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance. It also provides practical recommendations and advice on how to accelerate the transition to green energy. The startup will use the investment to develop accessible value-chain sustainability management tools.
Last week, Esgrid launched a free tool for SMEs – the ESG self-assessment. It helps any company, regardless of size, to easily prepare for ESG data requests from business partners and get a clear snapshot of their current sustainability progress.
To date, Esgrid has signed contracts with enterprise customers such as Ibis Hotel, Nordic Milk, and Utilitas, as well as financial sector companies such as Specialist VC and Fjord Bank. More than 100 companies now provide ESG data on the platform.
Founded in Tallinn in 2019 by Siim Teller, Lemonade Stand invests in early-stage tech companies from the Baltic and Eastern European regions. The initial ticket ranges from €25K to €300K.
Launched in 2012, Estonian Startup Wise Guys is an accelerator that invests in early-stage startups from the Baltic, Central European, and African regions. Startup Wise Guys typically invests up to €500K per startup through multiple funds that manage €45M and are backed by more than 150 investors. The CEO of Startup Wise Guys is Сristobal Аlonso.
Founded in 2012, EstBAN is an organization for business angels and business angel groups. The network aims to grow the quantity and quality of seed-stage investments in Estonia. EstBAN unites over 250 angel investors.
Little Green Fund was founded in Tallinn in 2021 by Andrus Purde, Erki Ani, and Karl Joosep Pärtel. It invests up to €50K in green tech and cleantech companies.
