Watershed, Google Cloud Partner to Promote Climate Software Platform

Watershed, which develops a climate-oriented software platform for enterprise customers, has joined the Google Cloud Ready Sustainability program. Together, Watershed and Google Cloud plan to help customers on their journeys toward achieving and maintaining net zero carbon emissions.

Watershed, based in San Francisco, California, was founded in 2019. The company had 246 employees listed on LinkedIn as of March 2023. Watershed helps such companies as Stripe, Spotify, Klarna, and Airbnb measure, reduce, and report their carbon emissions with real-time, audit-grade emissions, according to the software company's LinkedIn profile.

Watershed achieved unicorn status in February 2022 when the company raised $70 million in Series B funding at a $1 billion valuation. We don't know the company's current valuation. Watershed's software leverages Google Cloud tools like BigQuery for "fast and accurate translation of business to carbon data," the two companies said.

Sustainability Partnership: Watershed, Google Cloud Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the relationship, Watershed co-founder Taylor Francis said: “High-quality carbon data is the foundation of Watershed: we rely on accurate, granular emissions measurement to drive meaningful climate action for our customers. Our evolving partnership with Google Cloud will help us deliver best-in-class climate measurement, reporting, and action to organizations as they navigate increasingly complex disclosure environments and work to mitigate the climate crisis.”

Added Justin Keeble, managing director of global sustainability at Google Cloud: We’re entering a new era of sustainability-driven business transformation. Cloud is key to enabling and accelerating that transition, and enterprises are harnessing purpose-built software like Watershed. We’re delighted to make Watershed’s leading platform available through the Google Cloud Ready Sustainability program. All of our customers need to measure, reduce, and report their climate impacts and accelerate action. We are very excited to be working with Watershed to help our customers on this urgent and important journey to net zero."

Google Cloud Ready - Sustainability Details for Partners

Google launched the Google Cloud Ready - Sustainability designation in June 2022. Early partners in that ecosystem include Aclima, Airbus, Atlas AI, BlueSky Resources, CARTO,Climate Engine, Electricity Maps, FlexiDAO, Geotab, LevelTen Energy, NGIS, Planet Labs PBC, Ren, Sidewalk Labs, Tomorrow.io, UP42, Woza.

To earn the Google Cloud Ready - Sustainability designation, the search giant says partner solutions must:

• Be available on Google Cloud;
• address ESG risk, and assist customers in achieving ESG targets and/or support typical ESG goal frameworks, such as the United Nations’ SDGs;
• demonstrate repeatability;
• meet minimum Google Cloud application development best practices, including security, performance, scalability, availability, and carbon footprint reporting for available services;
• have Google Cloud Carbon Footprint Reporting enabled; and
• have at least one public customer case study available. 

Google's cloud rivals have also launched various sustainability initiatives. Examples include Microsoft Sustainability Manager and AWS for Industrial.