Persefoni Climate Management and Carbon Accounting Platform Review

The industrial age has led to significant strides in human development. Today, people can send messages from one end of the earth to the other in seconds, travel millions of miles in hours, and influence global change through platforms that only exist virtually. But at what cost?  Reports show that global carbon emissions quadrupled between 1950 and 1990 and have continued to rise since then. 

The world’s leaders have realized that while these outputs correlate with economic growth, they are also detrimental to the environment and humans. Persefoni is one of the numerous companies at the forefront of the net zero carbon mission. The software uses cutting-edge software solutions to help companies hit climate goals and reduce carbon emissions. 

In this article, we will explore how Persefoni works to help companies stay accountable to their climate requirements and commitments. We will examine its features, pricing, integrations, policies, and support options.

Persefoni Overview

Persefoni is a software-as-a-service provider that offers solutions for climate management for businesses, helping them to comply with government regulations, industry standards, and organization-wide commitments. Persefoni’s software solution is a product from Persefoni AI Inc., a private company founded in 2020.

The Persefoni platform, a digital resource from which users can utilize Persefoni’s features, serves as an enterprise resource planning system for carbon management. Using the platform, businesses can harness multiple tools to document and account for their carbon transactions transparently and accurately

The founders, Jason Offerman, Kentaro Kawamori, and Kim Stroh, who are tech leaders, share a common passion for a cleaner earth. After its fifth funding round, Persefoni has raised over $160 million, including $50 million in August 2023’s Series C funding.

• Established: 2020
• Founders: Jason Offerman, Kentaro Kawamori, Kim Stroh
• Offices: Mesa, Arizona; Toronto, Canada; Munich, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; Singapore, Singapore; London, UK.

5 Core Features of Persefoni

Expert Opinion

Rating: 4.5/5

Persefoni’s SaaS solution has a simple, user-friendly interface with features tailored to various components of the climate management stack.

Persefoni’s data collection tools and APIs meet the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) guidelines. Considering that the GHGP guidelines cover the seven most important greenhouse gases companies emit, this is a vital strength of the software solution.

We also found the Carbon Ledger feature to be quite helpful with carbon reporting and accounting. Persefoni’s Carbon Ledger, developed in partnership with Workiva, helps businesses meet regulatory and stakeholder requirements. 

Additionally, Persefoni’s rich integration hub helps diverse businesses meet their needs. Its integrations include Amazon Web Services, Concur, Expensify, and Google Sheets.

One point of improvement that we found while using their platform was in the intuitiveness of the solution’s user interface. While it is quite smooth to navigate, it has a large number of features. Therefore, there may be a relatively steep learning curve for new users.

Also, a few users may not find all the features they need. However, the company is constantly adding new features, indicating a commitment to constant improvement from the company. Overall, Persefoni provides an excellent digital hub to help companies track and manage their carbon emissions accurately and reliably.

Notable Features of Persefoni

Persefoni offers several features to help businesses collate data about their emissions and manage their carbon footprint. Below, we will discuss these features and how they integrate into Persefoni’s offering:

1. Portfolio Analytics Suite

Persefoni’s portfolio analytics suite is designed to help businesses and financial institutions gain insight into carbon emissions related to their investment and lending activities. The suite gives users seven advanced dashboards for managing emissions from investment activities. Using the dashboard, users can conduct due diligence at several levels.

The Portfolio Analysis dashboard helps users calculate metrics that are typically related to industry regulation. These include emissions intensity, weight average carbon intensity, and metrics related to data quality. With these metrics, companies can gain insight into the state of the organization’s emissions. Side-by-side comparisons also help companies contrast emissions between two companies yearly.

There is also a Portfolio Builder dashboard for companies who would like to ensure their emissions are better suited to their goals. This helps investment firms construct a model portfolio that can minimize carbon emissions. Persefoni also offers a dashboard to help businesses estimate the risk associated with climate change across the company or portfolio. 

Additionally, Persefoni’s Analytics Suite features a decarbonization dashboard. With this dashboard, businesses and investment firms can devise their carbon footprint reduction through industry-standard strategies. Strategies supported by the decarbonization dashboard include divestment from “gas-guzzling” industries, active reduction of emissions, changes in sector allocation, and purchase of carbon offsets.

2. Net Zero Navigator

Knowing how best to manage decarbonization can be challenging for businesses and firms with diverse portfolios. The Net Zero Navigator feature on Persefoni, supported by Bain & Company, makes this easier. 

The Net Zero Navigator harnesses expertise from industry leaders in reducing carbon emissions. With the Net Zero Navigator, businesses can find industry-specific decarbonization levers, which they can apply to ensure an actionable decarbonization plan. The Navigator supports businesses from several industries, allowing users to select specific emissions programs and target goals. 

Using the tool, you can configure recommendations and set realistic timelines. The Navigator integrates into the rest of Persefoni’s product stack, providing immediate feedback on your progress. Additionally, the tool allows you to track your climate progress against your target.

3. Climate Impact Benchmarking

The Climate Impact Benchmarking tool from Persefoni allows companies to compare their carbon emissions data to those of their competitors. Utilizing footprint data from more than 5,000 enterprises in 110 nations, this tool also enables companies to compare their emissions to international standards. 

Users can simultaneously extract insights from ten different companies. Thanks to these insights, they can discover more about the breakdowns of carbon emissions’ overall footprint and emissions intensity. Investmentors can also leverage these insights to check out a company’s emissions before including it in their portfolio. 

This tool also helps investment firms understand how adding a new company will impact the portfolio’s footprint. In addition to direct comparisons and insights into specific companies, the tool shows how the emissions footprint compares to indices like the S&P 500 and Russell 3000.

4.  Investment Portfolio Engagement

Besides allowing firms to monitor the carbon emissions footprint of their portfolio companies, Persefoni offers a tool to engage with them. Persefoni’s emissions request form enables firms to collect accurate data from portfolio companies. Estimations (which are graded as 3, 4, and 5 on the data quality scale) can be transitioned to actuals using this tool.

Portfolio companies do not have to subscribe to Persefoni to request this data. Following standardized rules, users can track all their portfolio companies in one hub with this tool.

5. Seamless Climate Disclosure

Persefoni helps users adhere to environmental requirements set out by regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its product suite complies with recent SEC laws requiring companies to disclose to investors their financial risks related to climate change. 

First of all, Persefoni assists companies in tracking their carbon footprints. Using firm data, its other technologies streamline the computation process. The specialists from Persefoni’s team also offer insightful advice on how to streamline the procedure.

Persefoni Integrations

To assist businesses in integrating their carbon management services into their tech stack, Persefoni provides a dedicated integration portal.

Persefoni’s interface with Amazon Web Services (AWS) enables enterprises to use cloud computing to automate carbon data collection. Each month, this integration gathers use and cost information to determine footprints. The business travel activity is converted into footprint data through Persefoni’s connections with Concur, Expensify, and Navan.

Persefoni also connects with iLevel, a cloud-based software program that gathers, verifies, and analyzes financial data for investment organizations. Users can immediately combine their financial data with information on their carbon footprint thanks to this integration. 

In order to get precise footprint data, Persefoni’s utility integration also gathers information on electricity and natural gas use activity. It ties in with more than 9,000 utility providers for simple usage data collection.

Plans and Pricing

Like many other B2B software solution providers, Persefoni does not list prices on its website. It tailors its prices to each customer’s needs. To get a custom price for your company, you can contact the company at sales.aws@persefoni.com.

Terms and Policies

Persefoni’s terms and policies guide the use of its products, services, and data generated using the platform. Users are party to a Software Subscription Agreement with Persefoni AI Inc., and are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the product. 

Customers are expected to use the services only within the granted rights. They must avoid derivative works, reverse-engineering the software, selling or leasing it, or interfering with the product’s performance. 

Persefoni’s Privacy Policy governs how the platform collects, uses, and processes user data. It applies to personal information collected from Persefoni’s websites, applications, and other offerings. However, the policy does not apply to personal information processed by Persefoni’s services on behalf of customers. 

Persefoni also integrates enterprise-grade security features, following laid-down principles. The company also follows a Shared Security Responsibility Model as a SaaS application hosted in Amazon Web Services. Therefore, the security responsibilities splits between Amazon Web Services, Persefoni, and the customer.

Customer Support

As for customer support, Persefoni offers a dedicated email support service and robust self-help options. Users who wish to reach out regarding any issues can reach out to support@persefoni.com. 

To make a product inquiry, Persefoni also offers a dedicated ticketing service. Users who want to make a product inquiry or contact the sales team can fill in their details on the website and receive feedback from a representative within 24 hours.  

Persefoni also offers a wide array of self-help information on its website, through its blogs and expert publications. Its blogs and expert publications cover several topics around sustainability and business, which users can harness. 

In addition to other self-help options, Persefoni offers courses on carbon accounting through Persefoni Academy, which hosts courses ranging from decarbonization to SEC climate disclosure guidelines.

Conclusion

Persefoni is a SaaS tool that helps businesses and investment firms monitor, report, and manage their carbon generation activity, ensuring sustainability while driving profitability. Its product stack and suite of integrations make it an excellent software solution for businesses that need to meet climate requirements. If you’d like a guided tour of Persefoni’s platform, you can schedule a demo with their team.

Contributors: Victor Femi-Lawal (Technical Writer)