Dive Brief:
- Visibility platform project44 raised $80 million in funding to help build a system for measuring scope 3 emissions, the company announced Nov. 3.
- More than 10 companies participated in the funding round, which was led by investments from Generation Investment Management, A.P. Moller Holding and CMA CGM.
- The focus on emissions visibility comes as regulators like the International Maritime Organization and European Union target new carbon requirements, project44 said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Multiple disruptions throughout the pandemic accelerated the need for supply chain visibility to help meet customer expectations, project44 Chief Growth Officer Jason Duboe told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
project44 competes against a number of other companies in the supply chain visibility market,including Shippeo, Transporeon and MacroPoint, Duboe said. FourKites, another visibility provider, raised $100 million in 2021 to expand its own offerings.
Project44's existing customers include Energizer, Anheuser-Busch InBev Europe, Foot Locker and Veyer.
The large sums of new funds, plus investments from companies with major shipping lines like Maersk and CMA CGM, illustrate the interest shippers and carriers alike are showing in visibility solutions.
As interest in the issue grows, regulators are also tuning in.
The Federal Maritime Commission launched an initiative in November 2021 to hear about data gaps from various stakeholders. FMC Commissioner Carl Bentzel found limited or unreliable ocean shipping data was one major inhibitor to better supply chain management.
Improvements to such data will be necessary if supply chain stakeholders want to meet new sustainability targets set by global regulators.
The International Maritime Commission, for example, is preparing to implement new carbon requirements for 2023, which it hopes will help reduce the carbon intensity of all ships by at least 40% by 2030.
