It is March 2020 After all, Jonathan Goldberg thinks his new startup, Carbon Direct, is in for the long haul. The Covid pandemic had started to upend the world, and suddenly it didn’t seem like a good time to start a business.
“I thought we wouldn’t have customers,” he said.
He needn’t have worried. Microsoft, which had been looking for a firm to consult on its carbon reduction plans, came knocking, and Goldberg had a team with a strong science background ready to go.
According to Goldberg, Microsoft itself has an “amazing team” working on decarbonization. “They also have a commitment to science that’s amazing to see. So they want to understand why decarbonization is important from a macro perspective, and then think about applying it to their company’s requirements.”
If Carbon Direct is like Carbon Consulting, that’s not too far off. But Goldberg said the statement doesn’t adequately reflect the totality of the business. First, the company says it doesn’t charge hourly. Second, “We want to educate people; We are not a black box. As soon as you click these seven buttons and there your carbon will disappear. It doesn’t work like that. We want to show people why this is important.
To grow its customer base and team, CarbonDirect told TechCrunch last week it signed an equity deal led by Decarbonization Partners — BlackRock and Singapore’s Temasek holding company — and Quantum Energy Partners.
BlackRock in particular has a reputation for saying one thing and doing another on climate. The $100 billion asset manager says it is committed to a “comprehensive, just and prosperous transition” to net zero emissions, but BlackRock’s finances are tied to coal, and the firm in 2016 Expect to support more climate-focused shareholder proposals than in 2022. Last year. BlackRock called such proposals “overprescribed” in a May note to investors.
