Persefoni, a software startup that helps companies track their carbon footprint, has raised a new round of funding to boost its artificial intelligence technology.
The Tempe-based company closed a $50 million series C round led by TPG Rise with participation from Clearvision Ventures, ENEOS Innovation Partners, NGP Energy Technology Partners, Prelude Ventures, Parkway Ventures, Rice Investment Group, Bain and Co., EDF and Alumni Ventures.
"This series C round represents a significant vote of confidence in our strategic vision, our product and sales execution, and our commitment to bringing best-in-class climate software solutions to our customers," Kentaro Kawamori, CEO and co-founder of Persefoni, said in a statement. "This new investment not only ensures our ability to provide industry-leading support to our global customers, but it also enables us to double down on our existing, successful AI developments.”
Persefoni has raised more than $150 million in funding to date. The company’s series C raise marks one of the largest venture capital deals in Arizona this year, behind Scottsdale-based Lessen, which closed a $500 million debt and equity financing round in the first quarter, according to data from PitchBook.
Persefoni’s latest infusion of capital coincides with its launch of PersefoniGPT, a carbon accounting AI product that provides clients with insights and guidance to adhere to regulatory requirements, according to the company.
The company’s AI product has natural language processing capabilities, meaning clients can ask questions and give commands for a conversational and intuitive user experience.
Persefoni will use AI investment for customer-facing products
Persefoni said its increased investments in generative AI will be visible in “customer-facing products shipping in the fourth quarter” and have a “significant impact on reducing operating expenses moving forward.”
Persefoni launched several AI capabilities in its core carbon accounting and management platform that are simplifying the complexity of enterprise data management with models that enable anomaly detection, natural language data matching and automated error resolution, according to the company.
"Our early shift to invest in the transformative power of AI and machine learning technologies continues to pay dividends. Not only are we able to reduce costs, we're propelling our solutions into a new model of efficiency and intelligence," Kim Stroh, co-founder and head of AI at Persefoni, said in a statement. "This innovation drives sustainability and efficiency simultaneously, and it's a key reason why Persefoni is trusted by partners leading in their respective markets, like Workiva, Deloitte, ERM, and Bain & Co.”
Persefoni has grown rapidly since launching its platform in 2020. The company raised $101 million in series B funding in October 2021, marking one of the biggest venture capital investments of that year for a Phoenix-area company. Persefoni also described it as the largest funding round in climate-tech SaaS history.
Since 2021, Persefoni's workforce has grown from 34 employees to more than 300 worldwide, the Business Journal previously reported.
Persefoni was named an AZ Inno Startup to Watch in 2023, and Stroh was a finalist in the female founder category for the AZ Inno Fire Awards held in June.
The company was not immediately available for comment on its funding raise nor future hiring plans.
