France’s ESG rating provider, EcoVadis secures $500+ million investment, now valued at over $1 billion

Parisian ‘seal of good earth keeping’ provider EcoVadis has raised just over $500+ million in an equity funding round led by BeyondNetZero and Astorg. The capital is reported to be used to further drive the company’s international expansion plans in North America and Asia, with M&A activities not ruled out of the question. 

Including the new investment, Since 2007, EcoVadis has raised over $725 million, with industry speculators now providing the company with a $1+ billion valuation. 

EcoVadis’ offer is rather simple but effective: provide clients with an easy-to-use and actionable series of sustainability scorecards that provide insight into the company’s environmental, social, and ethical risks.

Today, that offer has attracted over 90,000 companies in 200+ business sectors including household brands Verizon, Alcatel-Lucent, Nestle, and Henkle in 175 countries, to become EcoVadis customers.

"We see a tipping point in the market. Everything is really accelerating," co-founder and co-CEO Frederic Trinel told Reuters. "When we look at the numbers, this year EcoVadis will grow 50%, last year we grew 45%, the previous year 35%, and the one before 30%. So every year, we've been gaining five points of growth."

EcoVadis’ $500 million private equity round was led by General Atlantic’s SDG-focused unit BeyondNetZero and private equity firm Astorg, with the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and Princeville Capital also participating in the round.