According to www.esgtoday.com, Tokyo-based sustainability solutions provider Asuene has acquired supply chain carbon management platform Secaro for approximately $37 million, in a move aimed at accelerating its expansion across the UK, European and US sustainability disclosure markets.
Strategic Acquisition Amid Regulatory Acceleration
The acquisition follows Asuene’s announcement earlier on July 23, 2026 that it raised $87 million in a Series D funding round — led by BlackRock and Temasek’s Decarbonization Partners — specifically to support M&A activities. According to Asuene, the deal strengthens its position in two of the world’s most active regulatory environments: the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), under which companies are already reporting sustainability data, and the UK’s upcoming mandatory ISSB-aligned sustainability reporting for listed companies, set to take effect in 2027. A second wave of CSRD reporting obligations is scheduled to begin in 2028.
Secaro’s Platform and Technical Integration
Secaro, originally launched in 2018 as Manufacture 2030 and rebranded last year, provides supply chain sustainability data collection, analytics, and supplier decarbonization programs for global manufacturers. Its platform ingests corporate, facility, and product-level data, enabling network members to share insights and coordinate action. By integrating Secaro’s supplier engagement expertise with Asuene’s AI capabilities and international infrastructure, the combined entity aims to scale product-level CO2 accounting and life cycle assessment (LCA) across Japan, Asia, Europe, and the US.
“From the very beginning, our mission has been to help manufacturers work more effectively with their suppliers to reduce emissions across global supply chains. By combining Secaro’s deep expertise in supplier engagement with ASUENE’s technology, AI capabilities and international reach, we’ll be able to innovate faster, deliver even greater value to our customers and help accelerate decarbonization at global scale.” — Toby Newman, CEO of Secaro
Market Context and Emissions Imperative
The transaction reflects mounting compliance pressure on manufacturers to quantify and disclose Scope 3 emissions — which typically account for the largest share of a company’s total carbon footprint. As Asuene founder and CEO Kohei Nishiwada noted, Secaro serves supply chains of some of the world’s largest manufacturers, including “super major players in automotive and pharmaceuticals.” The integration is expected to enhance cross-border data interoperability and help clients reduce both energy costs and CO2 emissions across tiers of the supply chain.
“Secaro serves the supply chains of some of the world’s largest manufacturers, including super major players in automotive and pharmaceuticals. By joining forces with ASUENE, we’ll deliver even greater value to those customers, connecting supply chain data not only across the US and Europe but globally, including Japan and Asia, strengthening our product-level CO2 and LCA capabilities, and helping companies throughout the supply chain cut both energy costs and CO2 emissions.” — Kohei Nishiwada, founder and CEO of Asuene
Broader Industry Alignment
This acquisition aligns with broader industry momentum toward digitized, auditable supply chain emissions tracking. Similar recent moves include MN8’s acquisition of Greenbacker to build one of the largest clean energy platforms in the U.S., and Rio Tinto’s agreement to replace coal in refineries with bio-pellets. In parallel, regulatory frameworks such as the EU’s CSDDD and the UK’s forthcoming mandatory reporting regime reinforce the commercial necessity of robust Scope 3 measurement tools — especially for multinationals operating across Japan-Korea, EU, and US jurisdictions.
Source: esgtoday.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
