Iconic Air: Emissions intelligence for oil & gas
Our investment in Iconic Air
Greenhouse gas emissions are becoming a critical metric for businesses to track. A growing social consciousness on climate-related issues, coupled with increased regulation and investor pressure, has resulted in stakeholders putting more pressure than ever on companies to take action. And the oil and gas (O&G) industry in particular, the largest emitter of Scope 1 emissions, is certainly in the crosshairs. Iconic Air — launching publicly today — was built to help. We are thrilled to be investors in the company’s first round of institutional capital.
Started by Kyle Gillis and James Carnes, Iconic Air is on a mission to help energy-intensive industries automate, benchmark, and manage the cost of carbon and their carbon footprint. Carbon is the new financial metric, particularly for carbon-intensive industries. Companies raising both debt and equity capital will now need to be able to demonstrate ESG KPIs at a granular level, a major change from previous annual reporting requirements and an incredible strain on the existing – largely manual – reporting processes.
Thanks to their Emissions Intelligence platform, Iconic Air’s customers like Diversified Energy and Enstor can now process and calculate carbon data through an easy-to-use software platform. It makes granular reporting easy, and offers operational insights that allow organizations to make informed decisions and take rapid action to improve their metrics.
When we first met Kyle and James we were immediately struck by a maturity and confidence that belies their youth. Despite only recently graduating from West Virginia University (and having started the company while they were both still in school), the pair demonstrated an incredible understanding of the industry and customer set they are working in, and exceptional clarity of vision and purpose for the company. One customer told us, “I watched [them] go toe to toe with an industry veteran of 20 years and it was like [they] had been in the industry for 30 years.” We have had that experience with them ourselves!
Kyle and James embody characteristics we look for in founders that we partner with. Intelligence. Humility. A desire to continuously grow and improve. A customer-first mindset. And a mission-driven approach to company building.
We are experiencing a resurgence in innovation and company formation around addressing the climate challenge. Investing in Climate Tech startups is a core focus of ours at Garuda Ventures, and we have been fortunate to already partner with companies in the category such as Evergrow, Leap, and Amperon. The challenge – and opportunity – with this resurgence of company formation is to not just build innovative products, but also build long-term sustainable businesses.
We are excited to begin the journey with Kyle, James, and the entire Iconic Air team, alongside our friends at XYZ Ventures, GTM Fund and Country Roads Angel Network. And we look forward to partnering with more founders addressing the climate challenge head on.
Let’s go!
P.S. They are hiring!
Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused, pre-seed and seed-stage venture firm. Subscribe below to get the latest from us, and visit garuda.vc to learn more.