INSIGHTS / News

Bristol-based startup, Spherics, a firm specialising in carbon accounting announced this week that it has been acquired by business specialist software, Sage. The accounting software giant has said the new acquisition will help SMB customers better understand their environmental impact.

Spherics has had a significant impact in a relatively short time with its award-winning carbon footprinting software. Formed in 2021 when two senior colleagues at a Bristol-based creative agency, began to look for tools to support decarbonisation – concluding that not a lot was on offer. Spherics’ cofounder’s mission was to make environmental action accessible and approachable for any business. Spherics started out working with small businesses offering a digital tool to help them measure, mitigate and manage their environmental impact.

SETsquared is delighted to have been part of this social enterprise’s journey, supporting them through our various business support programmes and more recently through the Sustainable Technologies Scale-up Programme, providing 1:1 consultancy and academic research support through the University of Bath. It is fantastic to see Spherics scale up and the rapid growth that they have achieved through their visionary software helping organisations to reach net zero emissions in their operations and supply chains – tapping into this fast-growing market.

Spherics’ solution automates the process of calculating emissions by ingesting data from a customer’s accounting software and matching transactions to emission factors to create an initial estimate of their carbon footprint. The software then guides the customer to refine the estimate by submitting further data that can enable a more accurate calculation. The analysis can also be applied to a business’ procurement categories, such as delivery, accommodation, electricity and travel, to estimate the associated carbon footprint of a transaction and help inform greener purchasing decisions

George Sandilands, CEO and Co-Founder at Spherics, said the company’s vision and mission align “very much with Sage’s core values, and we are excited to embark on this new journey to help SMBs knock down barriers to a more sustainable future”.

“Global emissions are still rising fast, and we need immediate and meaningful climate action across the world,” he said. “Together with Sage, we can help make a global impact on greenhouse gas emissions by supporting SMBs on their journey to net zero.”

Amaya Souarez, EVP Cloud Operations, Sage, said, “Sage is committed to supporting SMBs to reach their net zero targets and we are setting ambitious goals to address our own environmental impact, Spherics is central to the realisation of both strategies.”

Financial details for the deal have not been disclosed, but it is confirmed that the Bristol-based headquarters would continue to provide its software as a market solution that integrates with Sage and other accounting software providers in the UK. SETsquared offer our congratulations to Spherics on this great achievement, helping further enhance the economic and environmental growth of Bristol. Learn more about Spherics