Sailing towards sustainability: zero44 secures €2.5 million funding for CO2 management in the shipping industry

Zero44, a Berlin SaaS startup for CO2 management of merchant ships, announced a successful funding round of €2.5 million this week. 

The startup helps companies from the shipping industry (shipping companies, charterers and ship managers) to set up the optimal and commercially most sensible CO2 strategy and to reduce CO2 significantly and quickly. 

Managing emissions has become a top issue for maritime industry companies. In particular, the EU’s decision to extend the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to shipping from January 2024 has far-reaching consequences for the industry. 

However, the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) regulations in place since 2023 continue to pose challenges for the sector.

 Sustainable fuels will play an essential role as a solution in the future, as will new types of ships, but these are yet to be available in the short term and are very expensive. 

With the help of the zero44 solution, shipping companies receive a comprehensive and daily updated overview of their CO2 emissions, the necessary EU certificates and the corresponding cash flow. In addition, users can purchase certificates via the platform and transfer them to contractual partners. 

This makes zero44 a comprehensive digital solution that enables players in the shipping industry to set themselves up for sustainability quickly and effectively.  

Early-stage investor Atlantic Labs lead the round. Starthub Ventures and Bernhard Schulte Innoport are also investing and several business angels from the logistics and shipping industry.

Friederike Hesse, co-founder and CEO of zero44 asserts: 

“The pressure from politics and legislation has increased massively, and for many companies, this is a huge challenge.

We offer them an answer and can help them to become sustainable and reduce emissions quickly. 

The fact that we were also able to convince Atlantic Labs of this vision and win them over as an investor is an important sign — for us and the entire market — especially in times when VC money is being awarded much more sparsely than before.”

Nils Obermann, co-founder and also CEO of zero44, added,

 “The new funds as well as Atlantic Labs’ great expertise and network, will give us tailwind for the future: We want to further develop and optimise our product, and our team should also continue to grow. 

We are very happy and proud of our team, which has achieved so extremely much in just one year since we started.”