ESG Triumphs in the Age of Hyperawareness

We have entered an era of “hyper-awareness.” With the rise and proliferation of data collection, instant communication methods, and society’s expectations around transparency, there is more visibility into our every move than ever before—the reach extends from individuals to businesses and governments. Consumers are aligning their consumption habits with their values and are paying close attention to their purchasing decisions with an eye for sustainability. They are also holding the businesses they work for and buy from accountable not only for the products they ultimately sell but also for every step of their business operations— from their carbon footprints and supply chains to employee management practices.

Investors around the world noticed this shift a while ago: “ESG” has gone from buzzword to mainstream, and the dollars have followed. Regulators across the world are taking notice and are institutionalizing much of the accountability consumers are placing on businesses today.

So, who are the companies poised to win in this era of hyper-awareness? At The Montgomery Summit’s “ESG Investing” panel, we will hear from 5 groundbreaking companies helping bring awareness and ESG-resilience to their customers business operations.  Across FinTech, AI, Supply Chains, and the Energy sector, these companies are scaling in ways that maximize profits while minimizing environmental, social, and governance risk factors for their customers. They are the mission-driven, VC-backed companies that will define how our companies today navigate the landscape of tomorrow.

In a conversation lead by Quentin Hardy, former NY Times Technology Editor and current Google Cloud Executive, we will explore what it means to be a lead a business that enables total and sustainable transparency, and how and why that should be a top priority of every CEO today.

The core of every business lies in its supply chain – where its products come from and how they get to the shelf. In 2011, the Obama Administration asked Justin Dillon to develop an app to inform consumers of how their purchases connect to modern day slavery. 10 years later, Justin has built out his original project into FRDM – the world’s leading supply chain transparency platform. FRDM’s network combines data science with machine learning and AI to algorithmically highlight environmental, social, and governance risks throughout a company’s global supply chain.

What energy is powering those supply chains and business operations? More and more, energy consumers are demanding stronger visibility of the time, location, source, and environmental characteristics of their third-party energy supply. Cleartrace provides an auditable accounting of a company’s energy and carbon footprint in real time. Providing insights alone is no longer enough, that’s why Cleartrace works with energy suppliers to provide provable 24/7 load-matched renewable and carbon-free energy supplies.

The further from the underlying business operations a company sits, the harder they are to track. For Asset Managers with portfolios of hundreds if not thousands of companies, this can be a near-impossible task. That’s why Clarity AI built a tool to help investors manage the impact of their portfolios, leveraging big data and machine learning. They are now trusted by a global network of investors representing more than $10 trillion assets under management.

Deserve provides financial services intended to provide citizens with access to fair credit products and tools to achieve financial independence. The company’s financial products include credit cards that use machine learning and alternative data to determine creditworthiness, enabling users to get access to fair credit without a credit history and build their credit score.

Finally, the Descartes Labs Platform is designed to answer some of the world’s most complex and pressing questions through geospatial analytics. Customers across the Ag, CPG, Government, and Mining sectors use the platform to build algorithms and models that can be applied across a wide array of applications including Deforestation tracking, High Carbon stock mapping, and C02 detection. The company defines “hyperawareness” in the age of AI.

Join us for a panel discussion on “ESG Investing” at The Montgomery Summit 2021 presented by March Capital on March 3rd and 4th, where we will dive into market opportunities in ESG and hear how these companies (and more) reimagine what it means to be a lead a business that enables total and sustainable transparency.

To register for the 2021 Summit, please use the following link: https://cvent.me/mqWNGX.  If you have any questions, please contact info@montgomerysummit.com.