When we are considering investing in a startup, one of the most critical qualities we look for is a founder who is in love with the problem they are looking to solve. As Matt Ellis simply stated in the pitch deck he sent us more than four years ago, “Commercial buildings must measure, manage, and act on sustainability performance.” At the time, Matt and his small team had already been bootstrapping their vision for four years dedicated to that four letter word: must. Not can or should—must. What Matt saw was an inevitable future where the real estate industry would be held accountable for its ESG performance. In that, he saw the opportunity for Measurabl to become the platform enabling the industry to optimize its ESG performance.
We are very excited to announce our continued investment in Measurabl alongside Energy Impact Partners, who led the Series C round. This financing round provided the company with $50 million to capitalize on Measurabl’s position as the world’s most widely adopted ESG platform for real estate and accelerate the industries’ transformation and decarbonisation efforts.
This announcement is incredibly important to us because it highlights three of Building Ventures’ core investment principles.
- People. Matt’s passion for ESG led him to resign his position at CBRE to found Measurabl. But more importantly, it has attracted and inspired an incredible team of 100 deeply dedicated people to pour their heart, sweat, and tears into the company’s mission. We knew the first time we met them in their cramped, dark rabbit warren of offices in a former warehouse this team was special, and they’ve proven it time and time again.
- Perseverance. No startup’s journey is a linear path of successes. This is true for Measurabl, as well, but the company’s path might be longer than most. Measurabl didn’t raise its Series A until it was already five years old, after bootstrapping its way to find believers while combating an industry that was initially uninterested if not hostile to the need for ESG performance management. Undaunted and undiminished, the team endured. Now, with 11 billion square feet of real estate on the platform across 80 countries, they can proudly claim “The ESG Era is here.”
- Purpose. We often say the built environment has a 40% problem and a 40% opportunity as it relates to energy use, GHG emissions, landfill waste, and raw materials usage. The first step to reducing these negative impacts is understanding where we are and what we can do about it. Measurabl was founded on this principle and it has worked tirelessly to be the platform to catalyze change in the real estate industry. By staying true to this mission, Measurabl has built a world-class team, an incredible set of customers and partners, and very proud investors.
With this round, Measurabl has an incredibly strong balance sheet to complement its market leading position. As Matt encouraged us in his most recent note to investors, “let us set our collective intention on fundamentally transforming the real estate industry into a scion of sustainability.” At Building Ventures, we couldn’t be more enthusiastic about doing just that alongside the Measurabl team.
