Optera secures $12M in Series A funding

BOULDER — Optera, a Boulder company that specializes in carbon management and environmental, social and governance performance software, has secured $12 million in a Series A funding round.

The round was led by Next Frontier Capital with participation from Blackhorn Ventures, Mucker Capital, Overture, Engage, Massive, SaaS Ventures, Valo Ventures, AngelList, and Stout Street Capital. Optera, trade name for Point380 Inc., produces software that helps companies to reduce the climate impacts of operations, supply chains, and products.

“This funding comes at a pivotal time in the sustainability sector as the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and EU (European Union) are establishing climate disclosure rules, and businesses across the globe are seeking solutions to help decarbonize and de-risk their operations and value chains over the coming decade,” Optera said in a press statement. 

“The biggest businesses around the globe are actively transitioning to the low-carbon economy. It is no longer a question of whether this transition will happen but whether it will happen quickly enough. Optera’s platform enables global companies to quantify and manage their biggest sources of emissions with greater accuracy, confidence, and actionability,” Tim Weiss, co-founder and CEO of Optera, said in a written statement. “We are proud to have Next Frontier Capital as a returning investor which, along with new partners, will enable Optera to scale our solution at the rate necessary to support the global transition to the low-carbon future.”

Optera’s platform tracks emissions associated with more than $180 billion in supply chain spend, the company said.

“Optera plays an important role in Zayo’s plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2030,” said Mike Nold, executive vice president of corporate development and strategy for Boulder-based Zayo Group LLP, a global communications infrastructure provider. “With Optera’s help in emissions data collection and analysis, we completed our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reporting for calendar year 2021 and improved our CDP score. With Optera’s leading software solution to streamline such data collection and analysis, Zayo has greater confidence that we’re on the leading edge and making the ESG strides we’ve committed to — backed up by data our stakeholders can trust.”

Last year, the Optera grew its team by more than 250% and quadrupled its number of customers, the press statement said. 

Kirsten Suddath, general partner at Next Frontier Capital, said her investment firm likes Optera’s potential. “We see tremendous value in Optera’s solutions, which is why we have increased our investment and will continue to be a partner in its future growth.”

Adrian Tuck, former CEO of clean energy technology provider Uplight Inc., will join the Optera board.

“I believe Optera is positioned to be one of the biggest and most impactful startups to come out of Colorado,” said Tuck. “The quality of the Optera team and its technology has positioned it to lead the ESG software market and directly influence how the corporate sector achieves net zero emissions.”

In addition, Melissa Cheong, Blackhorn Ventures managing partner, will move into a board role, bringing with her cleantech investing experience.