New research, exclusively shared with TechCrunch, reveals that approximately 76% of the top 500 VC-backed startups in the UK have not taken any actions to measure or offset their carbon emissions. These companies, collectively raising $40 billion in VC funding, lack significant efforts in addressing their carbon footprint. Moreover, when evaluating the VCs involved, the highest-scoring VC received a mere 37 out of a possible 100, while the lowest scored only 3.
Interestingly, fintech firms have emerged as the leaders in climate action. Monzo, with $1.2 billion raised, Oaknorth Bank with $861 million, and Tide with $294 million, lead the charge. Following closely are Faculty, an AI developer with $52 million in funding, and insurtech company Yulife, which raised $207 million. On the flip side, the worst-performing startups among the top 100 in the index include Doccla ($23 million raised), Multiverse ($414 million), Cera ($303 million), and Motorway ($272 million).
Some prominent UK VC firms, including Notion Capital (ranked 11th), GV, Index Ventures (13th), Balderton Capital (18th), and Seedcamp (27th), did not make it into the top ten of the VC leaderboard, which assessed firms based on their portfolio’s climate initiatives. Each VC’s average climate score was determined by summing the climate scores of all their investments in the top 500 and dividing by the number of companies in that list.
The report, published by Supercritical, a startup specializing in climate measurement and offsetting, examined a range of actions related to emissions measurement, carbon reduction, offset purchasing, and the hiring of climate-focused roles. Supercritical primarily targets tech companies with its services.
The research analyzed 500 VC-backed UK companies with headquarters in the UK, funding exceeding $20 million, and a workforce of over 30 employees. The highest average climate scores were recorded for Edtech companies, followed by climate tech, food, transport, and real estate.
The report also estimated the cost of adopting climate-conscious measures, using data from Supercritical’s customers. It found that the average cost of carbon measurement and high-quality offsets amounted to £61,635 per year, equivalent to just £4.98 per employee per week.
Dr. Steve Smith from the University of Oxford, co-lead of the Net Zero Tracker and co-author of the Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting, emphasized the importance of addressing climate change as a collective responsibility. He noted that many companies worldwide are committing to achieving net-zero emissions, making it increasingly difficult for companies without climate targets to justify their inaction.
Notably, more than half of the top 100 companies in the index were founded after 2016, indicating that younger companies are more proactive in measuring their carbon footprint compared to established incumbents.
Michelle You, Co-founder of Supercritical, stressed the importance of taking action on climate issues. She pointed out that the research demonstrated that measuring emissions and offsetting them with high-quality removals could be achieved at an average cost of £5 per employee per week, highlighting the responsibility of the business community to lead in climate action.
The following is a list of UK tech companies ranked 1-100 in terms of climate efficacy based on Supercritical’s Climate 100 report. The ranking considers various factors, including carbon footprint measurement, reduction efforts, offset purchases, climate targets, progress communication, and the presence of climate roles within the business:
[List of ranked companies follows…]
