Q Insights #015

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This week’s read time: 6 minutes

Welcome to this edition of Q Insights — our bi-weekly newsletter for sustainability and ESG professionals looking to make smarter solution decisions.

Each edition brings you concise, relevant updates on the tools, trends, and technologies driving the sustainable transition. We filter the noise, highlight what matters, and help you navigate the sustainability solution landscape with clarity and confidence.

In this edition, we’ll cover: 

• Q Intelligence: The Sustainability Solutions Market Is In a Consolidation Phase 📊

• Q Interview: How Denominator Brings Clarity to Human Capital Data (An interview with Anders Rodenberg, Founder & CEO of Denominator) 💬

• Q Signals: GreenFi raised $2 million, Sustainara launched new suites, and other news 🗞️

• KanataQ Corner: Newly Listed Providers on KanataQ ✅

• and other insights 💡

Q INTELLIGENCE

After five years of explosive growth, the sustainability solutions ecosystem is entering a new era: one defined by M&A and strategic integrations.

In the past two months alone:
• Position Green acquired Greenomy, Morescope, and Factlines
• Novata acquired Atlas Metrics, shortly after Atlas itself acquired Pelt8
• Diginex acquired Matter
• Denominator acquired Equileap
• Worldly acquired GoBlu
• Connect Earth acquired Datia

These moves signal the start of a major consolidation wave across sustainability software and services. Between 2018–2024, more than 80% of the 400+ providers listed on KanataQ were founded - a period of rapid expansion driven by regulation, investor pressure, and digital transformation.

Now, as budgets tighten and buyers prioritize ROI, the market is shifting from fragmentation to focus.

What’s driving consolidation:
• Buyers demanding integrated, interoperable solutions
• Longer sales cycles and tougher procurement scrutiny
• Vendors seeking scale, credibility, and end-to-end capability

We call it the Sustainability Solutions Big Crunch - a natural evolution toward fewer, stronger, and more interoperable platforms.

KanataQ continues to map these shifts through our upcoming Market Intelligence Platform, tracking emerging trends in performance, traction, and M&A activity.

👉 Explore the ecosystem at kanataq.com

Q INTERVIEW

This week’s guest:

Anders Rondenberg

Founder & CEO of Denominator

1. Can you tell us what Denominator does and how it helps companies?

Denominator is the global leader in social and human capital data, helping companies and investors quantify, benchmark, and manage ESG-related human capital risks and opportunities. Our database spans millions of public and private companies across 195+ countries and 85+ industries, providing structured insights into leadership composition, organizational data, and supply chain risks. We quantify factors within leadership and workforce dynamics, diversity, human rights, health & safety, and labor practice - through standardized, comparable, and transparent data.

Investors and companies use Denominator to understand their portfolios and supply chains from a people perspective, benchmark performance across regions and industries, and make informed decisions in strategy, procurement, and investment. In short, we bring structure, clarity, and comparability to the world’s most valuable yet least understood asset: people.

2. With AI transforming how data is gathered and analyzed, how is Denominator using technology to improve transparency, quality, and speed of insights?

Over the past several years, Denominator has built the world’s largest dataset within Human Capital, grounded not in machine outputs but in millions of human analyst decisions. By starting with people rather than algorithms, we reduced the risk of embedding bias from the outset. This foundation has enabled us to train AI models that are significantly less biased and make decisions with higher confidence across attributes.. Our models now collect and process data faster and with stronger quality safeguards.

In addition to using AI to generate deeper insights from our dataset, we offer free Responsible AI advisory services to SMEs worldwide. Through access to Denominator’s platform, SMEs can upload and benchmark their own data, understand how they are perceived by investors, procurement partners, and potential employees, and leverage AI-driven insights to strengthen their responsible business practices.

3. You recently announced the acquisition of Equileap, creating what you called “the world’s largest human capital database.” What drove this decision, and what new capabilities or insights will this integration unlock for clients?

The acquisition of Equileap was driven by a simple reason: people are the common denominator. While every CEO calls their people their most valuable asset, human capital remains one of the least understood drivers of both risks and opportunities. Together, we are changing that. Integrating Equileap’s pioneering expertise in gender equality and diversity data strengthens and validates Denominator’s existing datasets, enhancing our ability to deliver more comprehensive, comparable, and actionable human capital insights.

Together, we now provide the world’s largest human capital database — over 1,800 unique data points across millions of companies — setting a new global benchmark for human capital insights that are comprehensive, comparable, and actionable.

4. Finally, what’s next for Denominator, technologically or strategically?

What’s next for Denominator is driven by two clear directions. On the one hand, we are expanding our use of advanced AI to scale data collection, validation, and analysis, allowing us to deliver even more consistent and comparable human capital insights. On the other hand, we continue to grow the depth and global reach of our dataset, strengthened through the recent Equileap integration. As the market shifts toward the materiality of human capital, we will continue to build deeper insights into leadership, workforce dynamics, human rights, and workplace practices, helping investors and companies understand how human capital shapes performance.

Q SIGNALS

Latest developments, insights, and trends

📊 New tools, features, acquisitions, and funding rounds from solution providers

Works Design (KanataQ listed) launched its 2025 Reimagining Sustainability report, which finds that companies are shifting away from ESG terminology and reframing reports around impact and material outcomes. Half of the reviewed reports were 100 pages or more, and Europe continues to set the benchmark due to mandated reporting, while North America remains largely voluntary. The study notes that 85% of anti-ESG shareholder proposals were withdrawn, excluded, or failed, and sustainability contributed 4 to 7% EBITDA growth for portfolio companies in a sample of 320 general partners. For solution providers, the key signal is that companies are rethinking how they structure materiality, measure performance, and integrate AI, creating demand for tools that improve data quality, impact measurement, and reporting workflows. (link)

GreenFi (KanataQ listed) raised $2 million in seed funding to scale its AI-powered ESG risk and compliance platform. Founded in 2023, the Singapore-based company uses proprietary AI agents and a sustainability intelligence engine to automate ESG due diligence, reporting, and real-time risk monitoring for financial institutions and enterprises. (link)

Sustaira (KanataQ listed) launched a series of Industry-Specific Sustainability Suites to help companies address sector-specific challenges in decarbonization and climate risk. Covering seven industries, the AI-powered modular suites aim to replace generic or costly custom tools with adaptable, ready-to-integrate solutions. Each suite targets key sector needs, such as PCAF-aligned finance tools or contractor emissions tracking, and connects with platforms like Workiva, Sphera, and Microsoft. (link)

Denominator (KanataQ listed) published The Human Factor, a new report that examines how 25 Nordic pension funds invest their members’ retirement savings from a social and human capital perspective. Now in its third edition, the analysis covers more than 38,000 equity investments with a combined value above $3 trillion and provides a consistent, comparable data foundation that establishes the first industry benchmark on human capital across Nordic pension funds. (link)

Ask:

Prime Directive Analytics (KanataQ listed) is seeking 3-4 stewardship/activist firms for a pilot program testing our political risk analytics platform. Participants receive free portfolio political responsibility analysis, Political Responsibility Metrics on S&P 1500 companies, and a custom deep-dive report—perfect for planning proxy season engagements. Exchange feedback for valuable intelligence on portfolio companies' political activities. Apply: [email protected]

KANATAQ CORNER

What’s new on KanataQ?

📈 KanataQ Growing Family

Here is the list of providers that joined KanataQ since our last edition: CarbonAI (Climate Action), neoeco (Reporting & Disclosure), and Shift Critical (Strategic Advisory Services).

Come join us

Are you a sustainability solution provider? Join KanataQ, the platform where sustainability solution providers connect with high-intent buyers. Generate quality leads, gain market insights, and maximize ROI with our commission-free model. List with us today or contact us at [email protected] for inquiries.

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