Post Detail

Earth Finance, a Seattle-area company founded last year that helps businesses globally reduce their climate impacts, announced Monday that it acquired Water Foundry, which helps clients manage water scarcity and quality.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Water scarcity is no longer just an environmental issue; it’s a critical economic concern that impacts global supply chains, transportation, and energy production,” Earth Finance CEO Garrett Kephart said in a statement.

Or put another way: “Water and nature are the soul of climate action!” said Reuven Carlyle, Earth Finance’s executive vice president, via email.

Water Foundry’s founder Will Sarni joined Earth Finance as “practice leader, water and nature.”

Organizations worldwide have pledged to cut their carbon footprints. More than 500 have signed the Climate Pledge, a commitment launched by Amazon in which signatories vow to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. And companies including Microsoft have additionally made environmental pledges that address water use, among other issues.

Reaching those goals, however, will be difficult. Tech companies in particular are struggling to stay on track with their bold environmental targets while continuing to build data centers that consume large volumes of energy and typically use water to cool their operations.

Earth Finance takes a multi-prong attack to supporting the shift away from fossil fuels towards clean energy. Its services include:

• helping organizations create roadmaps for cutting their carbon emissions;
• assisting in the design of business models for cutting carbon from products and operations;
• connecting public funds with private investors to support climate startups;
• and providing climate-related analytics.

Earth Finance’s co-founders are Kephart, a climate policy expert; Carlyle, a former state senator who spearhead climate policy in Washington; and Bryan Weeks, former head of the Americas Institutional business for Russell Investments and Earth Finance’s board chairman.

Earth Finance publicly launched in February 2023 and raised a $14 million seed round.

This is Earth Finance’s second acquisition, following last year’s purchase of Molecule, a climate advocacy firm founded by Tim Zenk. Zenk is now an Earth Finance managing director.

The startup has about 40 employees.

Related: Former senator Reuven Carlyle launches climate consulting and finance venture backed by $14M