Canada’s NGIF invests in ESG reporting platform

NGIF Cleantech Ventures, a Canadian venture capital fund targeting cleantech innovation in the natural gas sector, said March 15 it had made an equity investment in Validere Technologies, which is developing a digital ESG reporting platform for oil and gas companies.

Investing alongside NGIF is lead investor Mercuria and established Silicon Valley venture capital funds, including Wing Venture Capital and Greylock Partners.

NGIF Cleantech Ventures is part of the Natural Gas Innovation Fund, which the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) created in 2016 to advance innovation in the natural gas sector.

Validere’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform will make it possible for producers, midstream operators and refineries to make better operational and trading decisions through access to accurate and timely data. 

“Validere’s universal data layer is fast becoming the industry standard for ESG reporting,” said John Adams, managing partner at NGIF Cleantech Ventures. “Validere’s digital footprint will be essential to not only detecting and preventing harmful emission leaks but also marketing responsibly sourced natural gas.”

Validere is now building the first universal data layer for oil and gas, which will aggregate all available customer-provided data into a complete, accurate and auditable repository that will allow customers to create a real-time digital fingerprint for every molecule along the natural gas value chain, from producers to end-users.

“Canadians want and need the affordable, reliable, clean energy service offering they have come to expect from the natural gas industry,” CGA CEO Timothy Egan said. “Investments in SaaS companies like Validere will lead to better information for consumers seeking to know the environmental attributes of the gas energy they are using – and be more confident of the value proposition of that energy.”