S4S Ventures And Nordic Eye Back Provenance With $5M Investment

London, United Kingdom, 15th May 2024: Provenance, the sustainability communications platform, today announces a $5 million funding round led by S4S Ventures, the investment firm co-founded by Sir Martin Sorrell, and Nordic Eye, alongside Alumni Ventures, Angel Academe and a grant from the UK Government via Innovate UK. Sanja Partalo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of S4S Ventures, joins Provenance board as part of the investment. 

Provenance is a data platform that validates and amplifies sustainability claims for over 230 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands and retailers such as Unilever, Estee Lauder, THG, Princes and Arla, across 18 markets globally.

Through its data platform, framework and publishing capabilities, Provenance enables businesses to be transparent about sustainability and inform consumers about their social and environmental impact in a way that’s accurate, unambiguous and substantiated at the point of sale.

Mitigating the risk of greenwashing

The funding comes as there is growing pressure on businesses to authenticate and communicate their social and environmental impact transparently, with a raft of new regulations aimed at addressing misleading green marketing claims. 

Regulations put brands and retailers at risk of fines of up to 4% of global turnover if published claims fall short of criteria. Companies such as Zalando, Asos, Boohoo, George (Asda) have all come under fire in Europe, whilst companies such as Walmart and Kohl’s have been subjected to fines by the FTC in the United States. 

Provenance has the largest database of validated sustainability claims, featuring 1.8 million products across 10,000+ brands. This enables retailers to save time, complexity and risk in validating multiple brands’ sustainability claims. Brands also save time and effort by managing and syndicating validated claims to multiple retailer channels easily from one platform. 

Sustainability as a lever for growth 

Beyond mitigating risk, the Provenance platform enables businesses to turn sustainability from a cost centre to a profit centre. By harnessing the underlying data, retailers such as Cult Beauty are driving up to 35% higher purchase rates for participating brands through product search and filter, conversion rate optimisation and loyalty programmes. 

The new funding will be used to fuel Provenance’s network growth internationally and further develop and automate their data capabilities. 

In addition to the funding round, Provenance has secured a Government grant via Innovate UK to develop a first-of-its-kind AI platform for CPG sustainability data.  

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Jessi Baker, Founder at Provenance, said: "Tackling the climate crisis and social inequalities are some of the biggest global challenges facing our generation – and marketing teams have a unique and crucial part to play in driving system change. Provenance exists to empower marketers to put validated sustainability data directly in the hands of the consumer, in a way that’s compliant with regulation, is scalable and drives growth. With the support of S4S and Nordic Eye, we’re excited to accelerate towards our goal of empowering one billion citizens to choose products that match their values.”

Sir Martin Sorrell, Co-Founder of S4S Ventures, said: “Sustainability isn’t just a good principle, it’s essential. No CEO should risk greenwashing as global regulations demand genuine commitment and Provenance provides vital data and frameworks for clients as they navigate this new normal. With Provenance, sustainability becomes a lever for growth. Brands that transparently share their green journey don’t just build trust, they win the market.”

Sanja Partalo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of S4S Ventures, commented: "We are excited to be supporting Provenance in the next stage of its growth and development. There is a growing need for businesses to be able to demonstrate their social and environmental impact in a transparent manner, and consumers are increasingly basing their choices around this. Rooted in Europe, where businesses are now being held up to the strictest standards, the solution that Provenance provides is the most sophisticated in the market. It is not simply a nice to have, but an essential part of the tech stack for advertisers and marketers." 

Christian Tarp, Senior Partner at Nordic Eye Venture & Growth Capital, commented: “Provenance is solving a huge unmet need as more and more data from carbon to packaging to diversity is trapped within silos, incomprehensible and left to rot within internal B2B systems. Provenance’s success in empowering businesses to harness their sustainability data to drive growth across the customer journey is evident in their strong growth to date with marquee brands and retailers, global reach and entrenched network effects. We are excited to continue to back Jessi and the Provenance team who are pioneering the market”

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ENDS

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Press Contacts

Nicole Green 

+447977402219

[email protected]

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About Provenance

Provenance is setting a new global standard for consumer sustainability, by validating and amplifying sustainability credentials throughout the customer journey. Provenance’s platform enables businesses to be transparent about their impact, so that they can reduce the risk of greenwashing, realise their sustainability ambitions and future-proof their market share.

This empowers consumers to cut through the greenwash and make informed choices at checkout. 230+ leading CPG businesses are using Provenance to communicate their sustainability credentials, from global enterprises such as Unilever, Estee Lauder, Princes and Arla - to fast-growing brands and retailers such as Cult Beauty (THG), Amika, BELU, L’Occitane, The Outset, The NueCo, Weleda and more. www.provenance.org 

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About S4S Ventures 

S4S Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies focused on transforming the Marketing and Advertising sector through digital innovation. The firm focuses on five principal areas: Martech, Adtech, Data Technology, Creative Technology, and Emerging Digital Media/Content. Its investment portfolio includes companies providing solutions for programmatic advertising, data warehousing, content development, and emerging digital media. The team at S4S provides strategic guidance and support to their portfolio companies to ensure they have the resources they need to succeed. S4S Ventures believes in the power of technology to transform the marketing and advertising sector and is passionate about supporting startups that are driving innovation and change. www.s4sventures.com 

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About Nordic Eye Venture & Growth Capital

Nordic Eye is a venture and growth capital firm based in Copenhagen with additional representation in the US & Switzerland. The firm invests in Northern Europe, UK and US based early-growth companies with unique value creation potential due to tailwinds, primarily from two global macro trends - digital transformation and modern lifestyle. The fund searches for ambitious companies that have international scope and innovative business models with exponential scalability potential. Portfolio companies benefit from Nordic Eye’s access to entrepreneurial experience, seasoned talent, global network and business relationships to help accelerate their success and reach their full potential. https://nordiceye.com/