Provenance secures $5m for transparency tech which tackles greenwashing

Provenance, a leading company in sustainability marketing technology, has raised $5m (£3.7m) to accelerate its goal to empower 1 billion citizens to choose products that match their values.

Provenance’s pioneering Proof Point technology empowers online shoppers to make positive purchases for people and planet, by surfacing trustworthy, proof-backed sustainability claims at the point of sale. At the same time, Provenance enables brands and retailers that are making a positive social and environmental impact to grow market share by increasing shopper engagement, conversion and trust.

Proof Points are digital sustainability claims that sit in e-commerce pages and enable shoppers to click through to view relevant evidence or independent verification. This unique transparency tech solution is already driving a 27% increase in conversion and a 2.8x increase in engagement at point of sale.

Provenance has tripled its customer base in the last 12 months and is now empowering 150+ leading brands and retailers across the food & drink, beauty and fashion industries, including Cult Beauty, Douglas, GANNI, Napolina, Arla and Unilever. Provenance is currently live in 18 markets across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

Their technology supports digitised claims from ‘Net Zero’ and ‘Fully Recyclable Packaging’ to ‘Living Wage’ and ‘Female Owned Business’. Provenance also works with 81 verifiers and over 20 certification bodies – including B Corp, Soil Association, Leaping Bunny and GOTS – to enable brands to surface third-party verification online.

Provenance’s latest raise brings together world-class investor expertise from across the impact, consumer brand tech and Web3 ecosystems. The round was led by Working Capital Innovation Fund and Nordic Eye with participation from The Brandtech Group and Digital Currency Group. Strategic angels include Nicolas Cary (Blockchain.com), Jon Reynolds (SwiftKey) and Peter Gabriel (musician & activist).

Provenance will invest the funds to develop its software product and supercharge brand and shopper reach. Following the appointment of Phil Verey as Managing Director in January, the company also plans to scale its team size to 50+ in 2022, investing in talent across product and engineering, sales, marketing and partnerships.

Jessi Baker, Founder and CEO, Provenance, said: “Provenance is fighting greenwash with transparency tech, and helping brands unlock commercial value from their positive social and environmental impact. We’re already driving results for small independent brands and global brand groups alike, and we can’t wait to expand our community.

“This funding will help us grow our first-class team and product and accelerate our goal to empower 1 billion citizens to choose products that match their values.”

Dan Viederman, Partner of Working Capital Innovation Fund, said: “To change global supply chains for the better, we urgently need greater transparency about products’ social and environmental impact.

“Before Provenance, there hadn’t been a trusted way to communicate verified or evidenced claims, at scale, about supply chain working conditions. We’re delighted to support the company to grow, as it continues to demonstrate how ethical production can lead to consumer engagement.”