Cash infusion for climate tracking startup

Kayrros, an energy and climate-focused data analytics firm, raised $44 million to bolster its emissions detection and tracking work.

Why it matters: There's a growing demand for monitoring climate harms, analyzing whether companies and governments are acting on emissions pledges, and helping them make good.

Driving the news: The new money comes from the French government, the European Investment Bank, the space-focused growth fund NewSpace Capital, and the VC arm of banking giant BNP-Paribas.

What's next: The six-year-old company said the funding will support the deployment of its geospatial detection tech that blends analysis of satellite imagery with other data.

Quick take: Emissions verification and tracking is getting more important as aggressive but voluntary goals become commonplace across governments and industries.

• For instance, over 100 countries have pledged to cut their methane emissions by 30% by 2030, but accountability and independent measurements will be key.

What they're saying: Co-founder Antoine Halff told Axios' Alan Neuhauser that Kayrros' tech is important for governments as they look to craft policies with "teeth."

• In addition to methane emissions detection, Kayrros' services are useful for tracking other kinds of climate progress, like clean energy deployment and forest carbon removal, he said.
• "Being able to distinguish between good and bad assets, being able to monitor forests to track deforestation — all of those can be essential," he said.

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