Sunhat secures $10.8m to verify ESG data

Sunhat, a startup specialising in ESG data, has raised €9.2 million in a Series A funding round aimed at scaling its AI-powered solution. This funding will enable enterprises to validate sustainability and regulatory data more efficiently. Founded in 2022, Sunhat, based in Germany, offers solutions that help companies rapidly verify ESG and non-financial data for customers, regulators, and investors, addressing the “proof gap” that enterprises face when reporting externally.

The company’s “Proof AI” platform is trained on insights from questionnaires, audits, and assessments. It maps requirements for valid, verifiable proof for leading management standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, disclosure frameworks like CDP and CSRD, and ESG ratings, correlating this with information already available in enterprise systems. The platform also captures new information, checks for recency and completeness, and alerts owners before anything expires or becomes invalid.

Lukas Vogt, CEO and co-founder of Sunhat, stated, “Enterprises don’t have a sustainability problem, they have a proof problem. Companies are meeting standards, building quality systems, and hitting sustainability goals. But when someone asks for proof, finding it and making sure it checks all the boxes takes too long. Time-to-proof now decides who wins business and who doesn’t.”

Sunhat aims for 10x growth over the next 15 months, with a goal to reach 500 leading European, UK, and North American enterprise customers. The new capital will support this growth, allowing the company to double its headcount over the next year, develop its platform beyond ESG data to support compliance with over 100 global standards and certifications, and add new integration partners.

The Series A funding round was led by fintech-focused investor CommerzVentures, with participation from existing investors including Capnamic, EnBW New Ventures, xdeck, and WEPA Ventures. Paul Morgenthaler, Managing Partner at CommerzVentures, commented, “Too many companies lose deals just because they can’t move fast enough. We backed Sunhat because it turns that pain into an advantage. Proof AI knows what proof is needed and has it ready, so teams can respond instantly and confidently. That speed wins business.”