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Paris, France, April 11, 2024 - Expanding its ESG controversy coverage and off-the-shelf solutions, Manaos, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas and a modular investment service platform, has entered into a strategic partnership with SESAMm, a leading authority in ESG controversy data powered by advanced Generative AI. This collaboration marks a milestone in providing comprehensive, AI-powered ESG controversies insights directly to financial institutions and corporate clients.

Through this partnership, Manaos will integrate SESAMm's cutting-edge ESG controversies data into its platform, offering a dedicated dashboard and controversies reports for institutional investors and asset management companies and adding private equity firms to its offering. This integration expands Manaos' coverage of controversies, not just for listed assets but also for private assets, tapping into the world’s largest set of events captured on controversies in over 5 million private and public companies, in addition to providing access to the most granular ESG controversy dataset in the world.

Sylvain Forté, CEO & Co-founder of SESAMm, highlighted the importance of the partnership, stating, "At SESAMm, we're committed to delivering transparent and comprehensive ESG controversy data, providing essential insights for our financial and corporate clients. By partnering with Manaos, we are not only expanding our reach but also empowering financial institutions to seamlessly integrate ESG considerations into their investment strategies."

This strategic partnership between Manaos and SESAMm signifies a forward leap in integrating ESG considerations into investment strategies, offering unprecedented access to sophisticated ESG controversy insights for the financial industry.

Benoit Guibourg, Head of Product of Manaos, added: "We're thrilled to partner with SESAMm, a renowned expert in ESG controversy analysis leveraging the power of AI. Thanks to this collaboration, Manaos aims to provide an extensive offer on ESG controversies and leverage the platform to incorporate comprehensive ESG reputational insights in custom or ready-to-use dashboards and reports. SESAMm's expertise extends our ability to guide clients through the complexities of ESG considerations, marking a significant milestone in our mission towards sustainable investing. Furthermore, we are eager to work with SESAMm to unlock the power of their extensive coverage of the private world and provide ready-to-use solutions for our clients."

For further information on Manaos and SESAMm, please visit their websites at www.manaos.com and www.sesamm.com.

About SESAMm:

SESAMm is a global leader in ESG controversy data, using advanced Generative AI. It automates monitoring and due diligence on public and private assets. SESAMm provides coverage for more than 5 million companies in multiple languages. SESAMm works with top international firms such as Carlyle, Warburg, Natixis, RBI, Fitch, and Oddo.

About Manaos:

Manaos, a technology subsidiary of BNP Paribas, powers an all-in-one platform that connects the traditional information systems of institutional investors and asset management companies with carefully selected rating agencies and fintechs to manage all their investment services seamlessly. In practice, the Manaos platform enables investors to collect their fund compositions from their asset managers, while standardising portfolio data and allowing for asset-level portfolio look-through. From there, Manaos empowers asset managers and asset owners to test and measure their ESG investments performance by connecting their portfolio data to a range of over 20 best-of-breed ESG data providers (including MSCI, S&P Sustainable 1, Morningstar Sustainalytics, Moody’s and ISS ESG). Once enriched with third-party data, Manaos offers flexible, multimodal portfolio data extraction along with seamless data visualisation and dashboards features. Finally, Manaos reporting solutions help investors with the production of EETs (European ESG Template), SFDR PAI Statements, TCFD, LEC Art.29, Taxonomy and SDR regulatory reports, client ESG reports and more. For more information, visit www.manaos.com

BNP Paribas has released its 2025 ESG Global Survey, revealing how institutional investors are adapting their sustainability strategies in the face of shifting market dynamics, rising regulatory scrutiny, and increased public skepticism. The report surveyed 420 asset owners, asset managers, and private capital firms across 29 countries, representing a combined $33.8 trillion in assets under management, and paints a complex but ultimately optimistic picture of ESG’s evolution.

Resilient Commitment Amid a Changing Landscape

Despite growing political backlash and accusations of greenwashing in various markets, investor commitment to ESG remains strong. A large majority, 87%, said their ESG or sustainability objectives have remained stable, and fewer than 3% expect to scale back their commitments. Furthermore, 84% anticipate that their organizations will continue to progress on sustainability goals through 2030.

However, this confidence is paired with a new sense of caution. Forty-one percent of respondents reported a more restrained approach to publicly promoting their ESG activities. This shift reflects broader concerns about reputational risk and regulatory ambiguity, particularly in markets where ESG has become politicized. Still, the underlying momentum toward long-term ESG integration appears undeterred.

From Broad ESG to Thematic and Impact Strategies

The report also signals a shift from general ESG investing toward more targeted strategies, especially thematic investing. Eighty-five percent of participants now apply sustainability criteria to investment decisions, and 59% actively pursue thematic strategies such as climate resilience or social equity.
Top investment priorities over the next two years include increasing allocations to the energy transition, divesting from carbon-intensive assets, and using active ownership to push portfolio companies toward improved ESG outcomes. This thematic focus suggests a maturation of ESG strategies, with more precise goals and performance expectations.

Emergence of ESG “Pacesetters”

A standout insight from the survey is the rise of “pacesetters,” the 19% of respondents that have achieved the highest levels of ESG integration. These advanced investors have already embedded ESG factors across portfolios, including metrics related to social impact, biodiversity, and “The Just Transition Mechanism”. Nearly all pacesetters are actively decarbonizing their portfolios and report alignment with broader societal and environmental goals.

This group is not only more sophisticated in managing ESG risk but also more likely to view ESG as a long-term value driver. Their practices highlight what comprehensive ESG adoption can look like when paired with sufficient resources, internal alignment, and robust data.

Private Capital’s Expanding ESG Role

Private capital managers are also emerging as key ESG players. More than half are using active ownership strategies, while 76% emphasize social impact, and 63% are engaged in just transition initiatives. These firms see ESG as an opportunity to generate alpha, align with stakeholder expectations, and lead in sustainability-driven innovation.

The Critical Role of Data and Partnerships

Finally, the survey underscores the growing importance of ESG data and trusted partners. Nearly half of all respondents expect to increase budgets for ESG data acquisition and analysis. When selecting financial partners, ESG reputation and expertise are increasingly decisive factors.

Overall, the 2025 survey shows that institutional investors remain deeply committed to ESG, but are evolving in how they execute and communicate these strategies. The future of ESG appears less about bold declarations and more about targeted, data-driven action.

SESAMm’s AI Technology Reveals ESG Insights

Discover unparalleled insights into ESG controversies, risks, and opportunities across industries. Learn more about how SESAMm can help you analyze millions of private and public companies using AI-powered text analysis tools.

SESAMm has secured Series B2 funding, and I want to share my excitement about this milestone and reflect on the journey.

After months of hard work from our team, we closed on a €35 million Series B2 funding round led by Elaia and Opera Tech Ventures (BNPP), which followed a €7.5M B1 round led by New Alpha and Carlyle in January 2021. That means we can now pursue the next phase of SESAMm’s growth.

We want to accomplish many things with this investment, and I’m incredibly grateful to all of our investors, partners, and clients who helped us during this process. But before I talk about them and SESAMm’s future, I can’t help but think about how the company started.

Academic beginnings

It’s still hard to believe that SESAMm sprouted from an idea, an academic project, and three college students. I still remember Pierre Rinaldi asking me to develop the first algorithms that used social media to analyze financial markets while in school. Pierre worked at a bank trading desk while finishing his studies and doing a research internship at a behavioral finance lab, where the idea came up for the project. I studied engineering and was passionate about AI already, so I started coding, and the first project was born.

Eventually, this project outgrew my capabilities. The volume of data involved needed hardcore algorithms to process them, the kind of algorithms Florian Aubry could build. Florian was the best developer in my engineering school, and lucky for us, he was also my friend.

Before long, we started renting servers, optimizing code, and building signals based chiefly on Twitter data, reproducing research papers that also used text data to generate sentiment indicators for financial markets. You could say that this project had become more than academic at this point. But it really only became a company once we won our first startup award.

The award that sparked the launch of a company

We participated in a competition organized by local incubator SEMIA with support from Société Générale as a way to gain credibility for the project, and would you know, we won. The award was monetary, and we could receive it on one condition: that we launch an actual company.

You probably already know that starting a business is a big decision, at least it was for Pierre, Florian, and me. After all, we were still in school, trying to finish our degrees and looking to start new careers. Our choices could be life-altering. Pierre, for instance, planned to take a full-time job at the bank he was working at.

In the end, we chose SESAMm. Pierre didn’t take the job at the bank. I did my end-of-study internship at SESAMm, which allowed me to focus on the company 100% while finishing my degree. And Florian dedicated all his time and energy to the startup, too. In other words, we were all in, and our school project had officially become a business.

Pressure to build

Setting up a company was relatively easy. Building a business, as it turns out, is way harder. How would we take SESAMm’s product and put it to work? Pierre’s contacts, that’s how.

One by one, Pierre called on everyone he knew from school that worked in trading, offering them a chance to be the first to test the latest AI innovation: using social media for financial analysis. Back then, Pierre had more of a sales role. He’s now COO and head of HR, in case you were wondering.

Our first client was a trader from London. He put $50,000 into a strategy based on SESAMm’s signals. With our signals, the trader grew his portfolio with such performance that he began to raise capital, including for a hedge fund. Ultimately, he was trading $50 million from the strategy. It was the kind of success and track record we needed in the finance industry to take SESAMm to the next level.

Compelled to move…literally

Having demonstrated success, an investment firm, a venture firm called Fonds Venture Numérique Lorrain, reached out to us with interest in investing in SESAMm’s first round of funding. But they had two conditions:

1. SESAMm must move to Metz, a startup-friendly hub in the Lorraine region in France.
2. SESAMm must seek additional funding from other investors.

At the time, SESAMm was based in Strasbourg because that’s where Florian and I studied. And for all intents and purposes, we hadn’t planned on moving.

Also, aside from Pierre reaching out to school acquaintances to try our solution, we had never pitched anyone to fund our company before. Pierre, Florian, and I faced a serious choice and challenge.

What did we do, and how did we fare?

We reached out to business angels and pitched numerous times while continuing to work on the product and starting to plan the first recruitments. We learned a lot during this initial period about how to structure a company and present it to investors. At the time, startups were less common in the region and using online content from YC and other accelerators was invaluable for us.

SESAMm’s headquarters is now in Metz, and we currently have offices in Paris, London, Tunis, New York, and Tokyo. We’ve also diversified our technology and clientele, particularly in ESG and corporate spaces. In other words, we faced the challenge, moved our headquarters, and grew and evolved a lot!

Series B2 funding round challenges

That brings us to the recent past. We’ve grown our company so much that it was time for another funding round, and the timing wasn’t the best. Our teamwork and ability to communicate effectively across regions and cultures were vital in tackling this latest fundraising round. We decided to run the entire process in-house as it was important to us to not only demonstrate our ability to do so but also to build our own VC relationships.

Moreover, we’ve had a unique previous fundraising experience. Having been funded by FinTech venture capital firm NewAlpha Asset Management and a large private equity firm like Carlyle Group Inc. in earlier rounds helped us improve our processes and standardize our communications. We felt ready for this challenge.

Frankly speaking, though, between the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, startup funding had become a much bigger challenge. Things weren’t popping like they were a couple of years ago, so we needed to be cautious and conservative yet bold and compelling. Regardless, we dug deep and stuck with the plan, with a focus on our numbers and our vision.

To achieve our goal, we created an internal team, onboarded two advisors, and created a scalable process. The internal team included SESAMm’s C-suite: CEO (Sylvain Forté), COO (Pierre Rinaldi), CTO (Florian Aubry), CFO (Marie-Charlotte Deucher), CMO (Jorge Alvarez), and CDO (Eric Sionnet). Our advisors provided guidance around strategy, gave feedback, and supplied operational help when needed. And from our pitch deck variations to our storage and sharing policies, we established a fine-tuned communication and project management process to keep us on task and on time. It was a good process, and it really helped us manage things efficiently while maintaining control over day-to-day operations. I can’t say it enough: process is always the key.

Fundraising wasn’t easy, but the process was worthwhile. And all this to say that I couldn’t be happier to announce that SESAMm has wrapped up its Series B2 funding round. With this money, we plan to further expand into the U.S. and Asian markets and continue SESAMm’s exponential growth. We’ll also seek key talent to sustain this growth and support the development of our AI technology.

Pleased, grateful, and excited for what comes next

Today, SESAMm is a healthy and fast-growing company. And as COO, CTO, and CEO, respectively, Pierre, Florian, and I are now more than a scrappy group of students. We’re a crew with the support of many contributors, consisting of more than 100 employees across many offices and cultures. It’s because of the teamwork and collaboration that SESAMm is where it is today. And I’m immensely grateful for all our team’s effort and the tremendous support we get from clients, investors, and advisors every day.

Thank you for being a part of our journey, and see you at SESAMm’s next milestone. Cheers!

Read the press release: “SESAMm Raises €35M in Series B2 to Grow its ESG and Sentiment Analysis Business.”