A Raleigh company focused on sustainability has added another $3 million to its haul – and backers include local entrepreneurs with big-name exits.
Green Places, a 15-employee ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) startup that had already snagged dollars from Triangle startup success stories such as Jesse Lipson, Scot Wingo, Joe Colopy, Chaz Felix, Todd Olson and Kyle Porter, closed on the new funding from 20 investors, according to a securities disclosure Aug. 24. Some of those same backers participated in the latest raise, joined by institutional investors.
Green Places’ technology looks to calculate a small business’ carbon footprint. It can then help companies figure out how to reduce their emissions – something regulators keep putting more and more emphasis on with each passing month – increasing the demand.
Green Places CEO Alex Lassiter describes the mission as being the “chief sustainability officer” for small businesses. The startup saw a “ton of interest” from investors – of which many are also customers with their own companies, he said.
“I definitely feel lucky,” Lassiter said, adding that the money would go toward continuing the traction the firm is already experiencing. “We’re already in a great spot.”
Green Places will also hire workers in both sales and development, he said.
Lipson, whose startups include ShareFile (which sold to Citrix) and Levitate, wrote Green Places’ first check last year and said he also contributed to the latest raise.
“As a business owner myself, I feel the pain of many companies that want to help the environment but aren't sure where to start,” Lipson said. “Green Places' software platform makes it easy to measure your carbon footprint and then figure out ways to reduce that footprint.”
The Tweener Fund, an early-stage-focused investor founded by Wingo, was also among the backers this time.
Wingo said his startup, mobile car care firm Spiffy, is a Green Places customer "and we love it – we're able to calculate and be carbon neutral and get certifications and tracking around it."
"Down the road, I think companies are going to have to do something around the whole ESG topic and working with [Green Places] puts us ahead of that game," he said.
Felix, who cofounded Durham's Bronto Software (acquired by NetSuite and later Oracle), invested too.
"I invested in the company because of the people involved, and the market need for an approachable and scalable way for organizations to take climate action," Felix said.
His co-founder, Colopy, did not participate in the latest raise, but told Triangle Inno he remains bullish on the firm's prospects.
Green Places launched in 2021 with an initial $1 million funder. Lassiter told Inno last year that the pandemic gave him time to think about what he really wanted to do – including the world he wanted to help create for his three children.
“I was really drawn to do something to put my strengths next to something I really cared about,” he said at the time.
Lassiter has a history of success, as his last startup, hospitality platform Gather Technologies, sold to private equity firm Vista Equity Partners.
