Cierpa & Company—Toward the Next-Generation Standard for Sustainability and ESG Disclosure Platforms. WiL Has Executed Investment as Lead Investor in the Company's Series B Round
I would like to take this opportunity to explain the background behind our decision to lead the investment in Cierpa & Company (hereinafter, Cierpa) and share my personal reflections on this matter.
The Irreversible Trend of Sustainability and ESG Transcending Political Fluctuations
Currently, in the international landscape, discussions about the transition period from the Biden administration to the Trump administration have led some to suggest that perspectives on values like sustainability, inclusion, and diversity might temporarily soften. However, from a long-term perspective, these values cannot be allowed to fundamentally fade away.Global challenges, including climate change encompassing global warming and the widening of social disparities, are growing increasingly urgent. International frameworks, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, along with demands from global investors, require continuous reinforcement—unaffected by the policies of any specific administration. For companies to establish sustainable competitive advantage, attract and retain top talent, and secure societal trust, embedding these values at the core of their management strategy is crucial.
Indeed, the legal framework for mandatory sustainability and ESG disclosure is steadily advancing.In Europe, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) were developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) based on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which came into effect in January 2023. This requires covered companies to disclose detailed sustainability and ESG information based on the principle of double materiality.In Japan, the Sustainability Standards Board Japan (SSBJ) has developed Japanese standards while ensuring alignment with the international ISSB standards. The first SSBJ standards (Universal Standard, General Disclosure Standard, and Climate-related Disclosure Standard) were published as final versions on March 5, 2025.Mandatory disclosure based on these SSBJ standards will be introduced in phases starting with Prime Market-listed companies with a market capitalization of ¥3 trillion or more for the fiscal year ending March 2027. The scope is expected to expand thereafter to companies with a market capitalization of ¥1 trillion or more (starting fiscal year ending March 2028) and then to those with ¥500 billion or more (starting fiscal year ending March 2029). Thus, regardless of political views, sustainability and ESG disclosure is becoming an unavoidable legal obligation for companies.
The Complexity and Inefficiency of Sustainability and ESG Disclosure Faced by Large Corporations
This progression toward mandatory disclosure presents new management challenges for many large corporations.Beyond mandatory disclosures, companies are inundated with inquiries from investors and diverse rating agencies like MSCI and CDP—often exceeding 50 to 100 entities annually. These requests frequently involve over 100 questions. Responding demands substantial resources and advanced expertise: referencing historical data, researching new items, conducting interviews with relevant departments, and analyzing competitors' disclosure trends.Consequently, the workload for disclosure personnel has increased significantly, leading to risks of turnover due to job burnout and challenges in ensuring operational continuity. Companies should ideally focus their time not on data aggregation or formal disclosure tasks, but on enhancing corporate value through constructive dialogue with stakeholders or improving sustainability initiatives themselves.
However, the reality is that many companies currently spend excessive time preparing disclosures, leaving insufficient time for these essential activities. While outsourcing the entire process to external consulting firms is an option, this carries inherent challenges: the risk of accumulating information and know-how externally, high costs reaching hundreds of millions of yen, and the difficulty for outsiders to grasp internal strategies and sensitive information.
Against this backdrop, we believe there is an extremely high demand for solutions that enable companies to autonomously optimize their disclosure processes.
SmartESG: Paving the Way for Advanced Sustainability and ESG Management
Cierpa is addressing this pressing management challenge by providing innovative solutions to approximately 70 Prime-listed companies, including Toyota Motor Corporation, All Nippon Airways, DNP, and Recruit Holdings, growing at a rate exceeding 200% annually.Cierpa's core product, “SmartESG,” maximizes the use of AI technology to enable companies to efficiently and accurately collect internal sustainability and ESG-related information, dramatically improving the disclosure preparation process. This frees companies from routine tasks, allowing them to enhance corporate value through constructive dialogue with stakeholders or improve their sustainability activities themselves.
Cierpa's solution goes beyond merely streamlining disclosure tasks; it builds a robust foundation for companies to deeply advance sustainability and ESG management and achieve sustainable corporate value enhancement.Moving forward, we plan to deploy multiple products on the platform, offering an all-in-one tool akin to Microsoft that covers the entire sustainability x software domain. Cierpa's foresight in addressing this market need and its product implementation capabilities were the primary reasons WiL decided to lead this investment.
Organizational Rapid Growth and Strong Team Structure
Since Cierpa’s previous round, Cierpa has achieved remarkable organizational growth. Supported by talent acquisition assistance through TBA, our group's staffing subsidiary, and under the leadership of President Sugimoto, who excels in strategy development, the company has expanded to approximately 50 employees.
This rapid growth is driven by members with diverse backgrounds, all sharing a strong passion and expertise in the sustainability and ESG field. Leading professionals from the industry's forefront continue to join Cierpa's team. These include Naho Nakakubo, former Head of ESG Solutions Japan at S&P Global; Yusuke Oda, an AI engineer formerly with Google; Ryosuke Machida, who joined as COO and Head of Sales from a consulting firm; and Tsuyoshi Kawamoto, Head of Corporate Affairs, who joined from an energy sector startup.
organizational structure across all areas, including business development, sales, engineering, and corporate functions. If you resonate with Cierpa's mission and growth and are interested in joining us in this challenge, please feel free to reach out.
Why WiL Can Further Accelerate Cierpa's Growth
WiL receives LP investments from approximately 40 major Japanese corporations, building a robust network with senior management at these large enterprises. This unique strength enables us to provide proactive support in business development and customer acquisition for startups developing software products targeting large corporations. Additionally, drawing on my personal experience and network cultivated over many years at a major financial institution, I have extensive connections with numerous large corporations. Startups like Cierpa, which primarily target large enterprises, are precisely the kind of companies that can maximize the potential of WiL's strengths and my own network. I am confident that by serving as a strategic bridge to these large corporations, we can dramatically accelerate their growth.
WiL believes that Cierpa will establish itself as a leading company in this growth market and powerfully drive corporate transformation in the era of sustainability and ESG. We will provide comprehensive support for this challenge.
That is why we are excited to double down on Cierpa and invest in this round as lead investor.
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