Briink, a Berlin-based AI startup focused on supporting ESG and sustainability teams, has secured €3.85 million in Seed funding. The round was co-led by EquityPitcher Ventures and 13books Capital, with participation from returning investors Merantix, seed + speed Ventures, and several prominent angel investors. This funding marks a significant step for Briink, which aims to tackle a crucial but often neglected issue: using AI to help sustainability experts transform vast amounts of data into actionable insights while maintaining verifiable and consistent audit trails.
Briink is pioneering AI agents tailored specifically for ESG teams, speeding up their workflows while ensuring the highest levels of data precision and quality. The newly raised capital will be used to enhance these AI-driven tools, enabling human specialists to focus on strategic, impactful work essential for a successful climate transition.
With new regulations such as the European Green Deal, companies are under pressure to be more transparent and meet stricter standards for environmental data quality. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) teams are at the forefront, responsible for gathering, verifying, and auditing an overwhelming amount of information. By January 2025, over 50,000 EU companies will be required to ensure that both they and their supply chains are compliant with these standards. The complexity of this task is increasing, as regulations become more stringent and traditional data verification methods struggle to keep pace.
This is where Briink comes in. With more than 40 enterprise clients, including major corporations, funds, and advisory firms, Briink uses domain-specific AI and large language models (LLMs) to speed up the verification and benchmarking of ESG data. Their technology ensures accuracy, completeness, and regulatory compliance. In essence, Briink serves as an AI-powered assistant for sustainability teams, helping them deliver better, more reliable data—data that is accurate, consistent, and less susceptible to errors or biases—crucial for informed decision-making and driving meaningful progress toward sustainability.
“ESG professionals face a critical challenge: auditing and verifying vast amounts of data in a landscape still plagued by opacity and greenwashing," said Tomas van der Heijden, co-founder and CEO of Briink.
