Canva's Cameron Adams backs Tasmanian carbon accounting startup Sumday in $2 million Seed round

Tasmanian accounting software startup Sumday has raised raised $2 million in a pre-Seed round as it looks to expand globally.

The raise was backed by VC funds Blackbird and Possible Ventures, as well as Canva cofounder Cameron Adams and Lisa Miller, CEO of Wedgetail Ventures.

Sumday gives accountants and bookkeepers the ability deliver non-financial accounting services to their clients, starting with carbon accounting

The startup is the next step for cofounders former lawyer Jessica Richmond and CA accountant Danny Hoare and CPA Lindsay Ellis, who launched with own accountancy business in the northern Tasmanian industrial town of Burnie, the industrial town two years ago.

Richmond said natural capital is also in their sights on the platform, which is also designed businesses, funds and government organisations that want to embed non-financial accounting into their existing processes.

She said Sumday was born from frustration around the lack of accuracy and transparency in the carbon accounting process and the lack of available tools to help their accountancy firm execute on increasing demand for the service.

“Very few organisations could tell you how their carbon emissions were calculated, or what impact their purchasing decisions have on their overall footprint, with any real degree of certainty,” she said.

“The data we need to do that largely does not exist and we’re here to change that.

“Accountants have the perfect skillset to assist businesses with this – so we’re backing them to play a key role in saving the planet.”

With the carbon accounting framework new to many advisors Lindsay Ellis has developed an 18-part course on how to deliver carbon it for Sumday customers

“The race is on to make non-financial accounting part of business as usual, every accountant we’ve spoken to agrees this is our space to lead and I truly believe this will be a turning point in the way we account for things that really matter, beyond dollars and cents,” he said.

The subscription-based software startup plans to use the fresh capital to develop its software and accelerate its global expansion, with the US and UK on the drawing board for later this year.

Blackbird partner Michael Tolo said the same rigour demanded across financial accounting urgently needs to apply to carbon accounting.

“In order to accelerate climate investment over the coming decades, we need a better approach to understand how, and precisely to what degree, these investments will reduce our emissions,” he said

“Sumday is building the tools to make this accessible for every business.”

Getting Cameron Adams, who has a farm in Tasmania on the cap table is a lesson for all founders. Richmond told the Startup Daily show today that they tracked him down to an event he was speaking at and put their pitch to the Canva cofounder, who loved it.

“Sumday have a true advantage in building a product that understands where carbon accounting is heading and who will be helping businesses grapple with the implications of it – the accountants!” Adams said.

“We were even more excited to learn that they’re thinking even *further* ahead to take natural capital accounting into account, which will be the next important wave in addressing the impact that we all have on biodiversity and the planet.”