Vaayu, which positions itself as the first carbon tracking software company for retailers, has raised US$1.57 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by CapitalT, supported by a number of angel investors including Atomico’s Angel Program, Planet Positive LP, Saarbrücker 21, Expedite Ventures and NP-Hard Ventures. This comes as the fashion industry is still responsible for 10 per cent of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Vaayu integrates seamlessly with various point-of-sale systems, such as Shopify and Webflow, to pull data on logistics, operations and packaging so retailers can monitor, measure and reduce their carbon emissions in real-time. This a significant evolution of the status quo of retailers calculating their emissions once a year and often hiring expensive external consultants to do so. Real-time, precise data measurement empowers retailers to cut their carbon footprint in parallel to their business operations.
The funding will be used to hire new staff, optimise the platform and support its public launch and will enable Vaayu to work towards its aim of helping retailers to reduce one gigaton of carbon emissions by 2030 – equivalent to the annual emissions of Germany and France combined.
Founded in 2020, Vaayu is the brainchild of the former head of sustainability at Zalando, Namrata Sandhu (CEO), alongside Anita Daminov (CPO) and Luca Schmid (CTO), who between them have 33 years’ experience across tech, sustainability and product design. Vaayu currently partners with 25 global brands, including Missoma, Armed Angels and Organic Basics.
Commenting on the fundraise, Namrata Sandhu, CEO, Vaayu, said: “We have only nine short years left to achieve the UN’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and as the third largest contributor to global emissions, retailers need to take action – and fast. Vaayu is here to help retailers measure, monitor and reduce their carbon footprint at scale across the entire supply chain – something that I know from my own experience can be complex and expensive.
“We are delighted to be backed by female-led CapitalT who understood us and our vision right from the start. We look forward to developing Vaayu further in the coming months so we can reach as many retailers as possible and help put the brakes on the impending climate crisis.”
Janneke Niessen, founding partner, CapitalT commented: “We are very excited to join Vaayu on their mission to reduce carbon emission for retailers worldwide. The Vaayu product is very scalable and its quick and easy implementation allows for fast adoption. We are confident that with this experienced team, Vaayu will soon be one of the fastest growing climate tech companies in Europe and the world.”
Marisa Hordern, CEO and Creative Director, Missoma: “Partnering with Vaayu as part of our sustainability journey was paramount to our own internal mission. With extensive backgrounds in retail, they truly understand our needs while allowing us to digitalise our data in real time and push the boundaries of what we could be, even further.”
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