ClearBlue Markets
Assessing current and future market value of offset credits, and technology-enabled solutions for managing carbon position, achieving compliance targets, and realizing value through ClearBlue.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
* | $8.0m | Series A | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
ClearBlue Markets operates as a specialized firm focused on global carbon markets, providing technology-backed solutions and advisory services. The company was co-founded by CEO Michael Berends and CTO Nicolas Girod, with a founding year reported as both 2009 and 2016 in different sources. Berends possesses decades of experience in global carbon markets across North America and Europe, having held senior roles at Barclays Capital and Vattenfall Energy Trading. His background includes a Master's in Conservation Biology from the University of Toronto and a Master's in Environmental Management from the University of Amsterdam. Girod's expertise spans over two decades in energy and carbon markets, with a focus on risk management, trading, and market analysis at companies like Barclays, Vattenfall, and Eneco.
The firm assists a diverse client base, including local, multinational, and blue-chip companies, in navigating both compliance and voluntary carbon markets to meet their decarbonization and net-zero goals. It serves over 200 clients, such as CRH, Mitsubishi, and Bain Capital Partnership Strategies. The business model combines advisory services with a technology platform, ClearBlue Vantage, to help clients manage risk, realize value, and optimize their carbon portfolios. Revenue is generated through these integrated services, and in March 2023, the company secured $8 million in a Series A financing round led by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
ClearBlue Markets' core offering is a blend of hands-on expert support and its AI-enabled carbon intelligence platform, Vantage. The advisory services cover carbon pricing strategy, position management, cost optimization, and credit procurement. The Vantage platform provides a centralized source of data and analytics with several key modules. These include Market Intelligence for insights on regulations and pricing; Position Manager to monitor emissions positions; and Voluntary Offset Insight, which uses AI to assess credit pricing and market trends. The platform leverages over five million data points to inform its forecasts and analyses. Furthermore, the company develops specific solutions like the EV Credits Aggregator and the Vantage Behavioural Insights model for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
Keywords: carbon markets, emissions trading, carbon compliance, net-zero strategy, carbon advisory, voluntary carbon market, offset projects, carbon credits, decarbonization, environmental financial markets, ClearBlue Vantage, carbon pricing, risk management, cap and trade, EU ETS, offset development, low carbon initiatives, renewable energy credits, carbon portfolio optimization, climate solutions