Asuene Acquires NZero, Expands Carbon Accounting and Climate Tech Software Strategy to United States
May 13, 2025 by Joe Panettieri
Asuene has acquired NZero, a software company that allows organizations to "operationalize and optimize energy use, cost, and emissions." The deal expands Asuene's business operations into the United States and the larger North American carbon accounting software market. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Asuene, founded in 2019, is based in Minato, Japan. The company develops a carbon accounting platform that "enables the measurement, reporting, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."
Asuene as of June 2024 had raised $64 million from multiple investors -- including Salesforce Ventures, Sony Investment Fund, Pavilion Capital (Temasek Group), SMBC, Japan Green Investment Corp. for Carbon Neutrality, GMO VenturePartners and MetaProp.
Kohei Nishiwada, CEO, Asuene
NZero, founded in 2018, is based in Reno, Nevada, United States. The company's software platform can combine data from such areas as grid performance, building modeling, regulations, and sustainability planning. Also, greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting is built-in the core platform.
NZero previously was known as Ledger8760. The company rebranded as NZero in March 2022. At the time, NZero said it was experiencing 20% month-over-month customer growth since launching its service in July 2021. We don't know the company's growth rate since that time.
Fast forward to mid-2025, and NZero's software is "deployed across 20+ cities and states" across such business verticals as real estate, health and financial services, digital infrastructure and professional services, sports and entertainment and lifestyle, NZero said.
Still, NZero's actual revenues and monthly cash burn rate are undisclosed. Also, the company has had some staff departures and executive churn. Indeed, NZero's total employee count declined from 107 employees in August 2023 to 36 in May 2025, according to LinkedIn. Example departures include:
Former Chief Product Officer Will Gradin (January 2023-June 2024);
former Chief Revenue Officer Susane Berger (August 2022-March 2023); and
Ledger8760 Co-founder Josh Weber returned to succeed Kramer as NZero CEO in 2024.
This is Asuene's first acquisition in the North American market. But the buyer has extensive M&A experience elsewhere. For instance, Asuene acquired E4G, an ESG data company formed by the Tanaka Kenji Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, in October 2024.
Asuene Acquires NZero: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the NZero acquisition, Asuene Founder and CEO Kohei Nishiwada said: "Partnering with NZero marks a significant milestone in Asuene's journey toward becoming the world's leading climate tech company. As decarbonization becomes central to long-term strategy for businesses, our collaboration with NZero enables cutting-edge, data-driven solutions that support measurable outcomes. By uniting our capabilities across Japan and the U.S., we're empowering businesses and governments with the tools they need to reduce emissions, optimize energy use, and meet regulatory and stakeholder expectations with confidence."
Josh Weber, CEO, NZero
Added NZero CEO Josh Weber: "This alliance allows NZero to accelerate GHG emissions measurement and the implementation of reduction measures in the United States and across Asuene's global operations as a fully integrated partner. As climate change intensifies and global sustainability standards evolve, combining industry expertise and innovation is critical in equipping organizations with the tools needed to take accountable, measurable steps toward net-zero emissions."
Climate Tech and Carbon Accounting Software: Market Challenges?
The M&A deal surfaces at a key time. Dozens of U.S.-based climate tech startups are struggling to find new funding and new customers amid recent geopolitical headwinds.
Indeed, the U.S. federal government has rolled back and/or abandoned various climate initiatives since President Donald Trump's second term began in January 2025.
As a result, many venture capitalists (VCs), private equity firms and angel investors have hesitated to fund existing or new climate tech startups. The geopolitical headwinds could force some climate tech businesses to shutter and/or sell their intellectual property at steeply discounted valuations.
Despite the federal government pushback, local governments and the private sector continue to accelerate their decarbonization efforts, NZero asserts.
M&A activity involving carbon accounting software startups has been steady -- though in most cases we don't know if the deal valuations were strong. Example business combinations include:
February 2025: Ecologi acquired Net Zero Now, a carbon accounting software platform provider. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
September 2024:Gevo acquired CultivateAI to further focus on carbon accounting software and data in the agriculture market. Gevo paid $6 million in cash, with additional earn-out payments potentially possible, the buyer said.
August 2024: Asuene acquired CoRocket and launched an associated business called Asuene Veritas. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Moreover, multiple carbon accounting software startups received funding ahead of Donald Trump's return to the White House in January 2025. Trump's economic strategy and rollback of multiple Biden Administration climate policies have made some climate tech investors nervous.
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