The firm led an oversubscribed $2.65 million pre-seed round for the sustainability management platform company.
(MANCHESTER, N.H., Oct. 31, 2024) — York IE, an advisory and venture capital firm that helps technology companies grow, today announced its investment in Cold, the sustainability management platform that leverages AI to streamline compliance for organizations of all sizes.
York IE led the oversubscribed $2.65 million pre-seed round, with participation from Better Ventures and a team of advisors and investors with deep retail industry backgrounds.
“For companies seeking to work with enterprise clients, meeting sustainability compliance standards is rapidly becoming just as essential as SOC 2 certification,” said Marshall Everson, VP of Investments & Strategy at York IE. “Cold’s sustainability management platform simplifies compliance by centralizing diverse compliance frameworks and using AI to automate what was previously a tedious, manual process.”
Mounting sustainability reporting requirements are putting increased pressure on many companies. Compliance and reporting take up about 40% of sustainability leaders’ time, which comes at a significant opportunity cost.
Cold’s platform helps sustainability leaders at leading consumer brands, such as Bombas, Topo Designs, and Peak Design, centralize their reporting processes, freeing up time to focus on reducing environmental impact.
Prior to founding Cold, CEO Eric Dayton founded Askov Finlayson, a climate positive winter outerwear company. Askov Finalyson is only the fourth company in the outdoor apparel industry to achieve B Corp certification. Cold’s co-founder, Dan Lindquist, has a history of building innovative SaaS solutions as the co-founder and former Chief Product Officer at Mainstreet.
With this funding, Cold plans to expand its engineering team and accelerate the development of new product features, including tools for supplier and product-level reporting.
“As a former founder in the apparel industry, I’ve experienced firsthand how sustainability reporting can suck precious time and resources away from actually reducing an organization’s environmental impact,” Dayton said. “Cold helps centralize and automate compliance so sustainability leaders can focus on the work that matters most. Partnering with York IE and their active capital gives us the resources to continue furthering that mission.”
Cold is part of York IE’s 10th investment cohort. The firm has now announced nearly 70 investments in more than 50 companies around the world.
For additional information on the York IE portfolio and investment philosophy, visit york.ie/investments.
ABOUT YORK IE
York IE is an advisory and venture capital firm that helps technology companies grow. York IE leverages a 200+ person global operating team, data and automation technology, and deep ecosystem relationships to provide advisory as a service across R&D, GTM, and G&A and to selectively invest in early-stage B2B SaaS startups. Founders, operators, and investors at all stages rely on York IE to help build, scale and monetize their business. Fuel® your strategic growth at York IE.
