Calgary-based Validere has raised $55 million CAD ($43 million USD) in its Series B financing round led by Swiss commodity trading group Mercuria Energy as well as select funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.
Other backers were Pioneer Fund, Nova Fleet, and NGIF Cleantech Ventures, as well as existing investors Wing VC and Greylock Partners.
As part of Validere’s latest financing, Mercuria’s chief investment officer, Brian Falik has joined the startup’s board of directors.
Founded in 2015 by scientist Ian Burgess and entrepreneur Nouman Ahmad, Validere provides an all-in-one commodity management platform for the energy industry. Its technology monitors, validates, and forecasts data at the facility level to support companies in their operational and business planning.
“In order to manage the energy transition well, environmental attributes cannot be managed in a silo, they need to be integrated in the day-to-day operations and commercial decisions,” said Ahmad, Validere’s CEO.
Validere acts as the data layer for multiple environmental tracking initiatives, such as the tokenization of voluntary carbon credits generated from a carbon capture, utilization and storage project, and the certification of operators that produce responsibly sourced natural gas.
The Globe and Mail reported that Validere now claims 45 energy companies as clients, including Vermilion Energy and two supermajor producers (which refers to the world’s six or seven largest publicly traded oil and gas companies). In 2020, the oil and gas firm was measuring the contents of three million barrels per day. Burgess told The Globe that number has since doubled, with Validere monitoring more than six million barrels.
Validere’s growth can be attributed to past funding rounds, which supported the expansion of the company as it looked to bring its platform to new markets.
RELATED: Oil and gas intelligence startup Validere raises $20 million CAD
Led by Wing VC, Validere raised $20 million CAD in March 2020 for its Series A round to scale within the United States. Y Combinator also previously invested in Validere in 2018 as part of its $7 million seed funding.
As part of Validere’s latest financing, Mercuria’s chief investment officer, Brian Falik has joined the startup’s board of directors.