Novata, a public benefit corporation and technology platform that provides private markets with intuitive Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data management solutions, announced the official launch of its product platform.

Backed by a consortium that includes the Ford Foundation, S&P Global, Hamilton Lane and Omidyar Network, and with the support of more than a dozen private equity firms and pension funds, Novata is the leading ESG data management platform built specifically to help GPs collect data from their portfolio companies. The Novata platform provides:

• a clear starting point for selecting ESG metrics
• painless data collection into a secure database
• data insights and analytics tools to inform investment decisions.

“It’s clear we’ve reached an important inflection point for ESG in the private markets – private companies and their investors face escalating pressure to describe the impact they have on people and the planet,” said Alex Friedman, CEO & Co-Founder at Novata. “Our platform offers a holistic solution for the gap in private market players’ ability to collect, store, effectively analyze and report on relevant ESG data, and we are laser focused on helping private companies meet the ESG challenge.”

Directly informed by the needs of general partners and limited partners, Novata is designed to provide users with a clearer view of ESG impact through its secure technology platform. Novata simplifies the ESG data collection process for GPs and their portfolio companies by providing clear metric definitions, practical guidance on which metrics to collect and how to calculate them, and human support when needed. Most notably, users can customize their metrics selection to ensure they are collecting ESG metrics that are most relevant to their business and investors.

“After several rounds of beta testing and strong early customer feedback, we are pleased to officially launch the Novata platform today and believe it will revolutionize the way the private markets interact with their ESG data,” said Lauren Peat, Chief Revenue Officer at Novata. “GPs, LPs and their portfolio companies are looking for a clear, simple, and customized technology platform for seamless data collection, and this is exactly what Novata aims to deliver.”

Interest in ESG has been on the rise in the private markets, exemplified by private equity firms that are increasingly focused on effectively quantifying and reporting on ESG impact for investors. Yet ESG measurement remains challenging for the private market participants, most of whom are in the early stages of collecting sustainability and social impact data.

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“We fully support Novata’s mission to simplify the process of ESG data collection for the private markets,” said Erik Hirsch, Vice Chairman and Head of Strategic Initiatives at Hamilton Lane. “While investors’ ESG expectations have evolved from a ‘trust me’ approach to a ‘show me’ one, the challenges for all market participants to be accountable and for their ESG data to be measurable remain significant. Technology can allow for better collection and consumption of that data without imposing on the ‘one size fit all’ approach that’s existed historically. Novata is that technology.”

Source: Novata