Spherics, a UK-based carbon accounting platform for SMEs to understand and reduce their environmental impact, has been acquired by accounting giant Sage. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Spirex is understood to have raised £1.25m in equity funding from angel investors and £300,000 in grant funding.
It was a small startup playing in the same space as the big guys, which include Sperix Standard, Plan A, Klimametrix.global, Persefoni and Planetly.com (with other carbon accounting players like Watershed and Klimatic as consultants).
Sage has previously said it plans to support SMEs to get to zero, and this acquisition appears to be part of their strategy.
Spherics automates the emissions calculation process by importing data from the company’s accounting software and matching transactions to estimate their carbon footprints. It can also apply carbon emission factors to procurement categories (such as transportation, accommodation, electricity and travel).
“We know that SMBs care about their impact on the environment, and our research shows that they want to understand them and work with suppliers and partners who can help them solve the problem,” said Amaya Souarez, EVP Cloud Operations, Sage, in a statement. “Combining Spherics’ innovative software with Sage’s digital network will help reduce carbon by connecting businesses to emissions data from their customers and suppliers, enabling simple, shared climate action across value chains.”
George Sandilands, CEO and Co-Founder, Sperics, added, “Our vision and mission are very aligned with Sage’s core values, and we are excited to embark on this new journey to help SMBs break down barriers to a more sustainable future. Global emissions are still growing rapidly, and we need urgent and meaningful climate action around the world.
Headquartered in Bristol, UK, Sperix is the second Bristol start-up to be acquired by Sage last year, following the acquisition of BrightPearl in 2021.
Bristol seems to be making climate tech a habit, also developing Ecology Zero, a real-time carbon footprinting software for businesses.
