Draper Esprit leads $30m funding round for Cervest

Draper Esprit has led a $30 million (€ 25 million) funding round for Cervest, which has developed what it says is the world's first artificial intelligence-powered climate intelligence platform.

The Dublin and London-listed venture capital firm was among a number of VCs to back the London-based company along with current investors Astanor Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital and Future Positive Capital. Other participants included Untitled and Time, the venture funds of Tetra Pak heir Magnus Rausing and Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff respectively.

Cervest has developed a first-of-its-kind automated climate intelligence platform, which combines public and private data sources, machine learning and cutting-edge statistical science to present a unified view of climate risk.

EarthScan, the first product on the platform, gives enterprises and governments on-demand access to current, historical and predictive views of how combined risks such as flooding, droughts and extreme temperatures can impact the assets they own or manage.

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Free assessment

The company is to use the new financing to move aggressively into the US and European markets, it said, primarily via its “freemium” mode which offers everyone a free, standardised assessment.

"Climate intelligence is business intelligence for managing climate risk. Climate volatility has thrown us into a new era where climate intelligence needs to be integrated into all decisions. Organisations that fail to do so risk being blindsided by climate events such as the recent floods and fires in Australia, the droughts in Europe and the winter freeze in Texas," said founder Iggy Bassi.

“By using EarthScan to baseline, monitor and forecast risk, organisations can take action to protect their assets and navigate toward a more resilient future,” he added.