24 hours a day, seven days a week, nZero has installed a billion data points on 12,000 buildings and 10,000 vehicles to measure greenhouse gas emissions in near real time. Exactly two years after its official launch in Nevada, the startup announced that it had raised $16m in a series A round led by Fifth Wall and a US energy company, with support from a handful of investors, such as Piedmont Capital Investments of Henry Kravis, founder and co-chairman of KKR.

“Our next chapter will see us grow as a data authority and evolve our technology platform, deepening our work with Fortune 500 companies, municipalities, government agencies and NGOs,” nZero CEO Adam Kramer, former vice president of strategy at Switch, announced in a statement.

“nZero is experiencing significant headwinds and, in turn, unprecedented growth due to a global call for improved and more accurate ESG reporting. Their market-leading team is setting the new industry standard for how energy, financial and greenhouse gas emissions data is tracked and managed in the public and private sectors,” added Fifth Wall's Climate Technology investment team director Jennifer Place.

“We are backing a startup that is leveraging technology to transform the way businesses and governments plan and set climate targets and adjust their operations accordingly to meet those targets. Truth through better data is the fundamental reason we are supporting nZero.”

The pioneering Tour de Luxembourg

Among its recruits, nZero has recorded the arrivals of Will Gradin (ex-Meta and Sales Force) as head of product, and Susane Berger (ex-Sales Force) as revenue manager.

nZero’s technology has already received awards in Nevada, where it has been headquartered since 2017, it received the Sustainable Product of the Year award from Business Intelligence, it is among the top inventions in Time’s “Sustainability” category and is listed as a world-changing idea by Fast Company.

When it arrived at the House of Startups in 2020 under a different name, the Luxembourg subsidiary nZero Lxb--now based in Rue Philippe II and headed by Philippe Gruber--had Luxembourgers Jean Lucius, former CEO of Encevo, and former professional cyclist Andy Schleck on its board. Last year, the Tour de Luxembourg cycling race became the first to carry out its carbon footprint in real time, under the impetus of the former Saxo Bank rider (2009-2010) with whom he twice finished second in the Tour de France, before being declared winner of the 2010 edition of the Grande Boucle following Alberto Contador’s withdrawal (in February 2012).

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.